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COPYRIGHT BY THE CENTURY CO. 

THE FORERUNNER OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 








the idyl of 
The Split-Bamboo 

A Carefully Detailed Description 

of the Rod's Building 

Prefaced by 

a Dissertation on the Joys of Angling 

there being appended some Information on 

the Home Cultivation of Silkworm-Gut 

and Suggestions on Landing-Nets and 

other Equipment, and for 

The Angler's Camp 

BY 

GEORGE PARKER HOLDEN, M.D^F. A.C.S. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSrRATED 





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J 



CINCINNATI 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

PUBUSHERS 



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Copyright, 1920, by 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

A// rights reserved 

Copyright in England 



'0)CI.A604136 



NOV 15 1920 



This Anglers' Book 
IS Dedicated 

FIRST OF ALL, TO 

THAT DEAR WOMAN 

WHO " LETS ME ; " 
NEXT, TO THE MEMORY OF A FRIEND, 

SIDNEY HUGHES 

— A QUIET AND GENTLE 

SON OF HIS LOVED SOUTHLAND, 

WHERE HE DROPPED ASLEEP — 

WIZARD WITH A FLY, AND 

TO WHOM I OWE MY FIRST 

INTRODUCTION TO TROUTING; 

AND, AFTER THESE, 
TO THAT GENIAL COTERIE OF 

CHERISHED COMPANIONS 

WITH WHOM IT HAS BEEN MY GOOD FORTUNE 

TO HAVE SPENT SOME OF THE MOST 

JOYOUS HOURS OF MY LIFE 

OUT-O'-DOOR 



FOREWORD 

The publishers regret that on account of Dr. van 
Dyke's unexpected absence abroad, this " Fore- 
word " has to consist of the following letter instead 
of the introduction which we were anticipating. But 
if this distinguished angler's prediction concerning 
the present volume proves correct, perhaps we can 
have that introduction in a later edition. 

Avalon 
Princeton, N. J. 
December 8, 19 19 
Dear Dr. Holden : 

I am glad to hear about your new book on " The 
Split-Bamboo Rod," and though I had made a re- 
solve not to write any more introductions for books, 
or in fact undertake any additional work of any kind 
this winter and spring, I cannot resist the impulse to 
make an exception in your case, because I feel sure 
that your book will be a valuable addition to the 
practical literature of angling, as well as a delightful 
record of the inward and outward joys of that art. 
If therefore you will send me a set of page proofs 



vi FOREWORD 

of the book when it is finished, I shall be very glad to 
try my hand at a little " Foreword," although I 
know that your volume will not need any in- 
troduction. 

Believe me. 

Cordially yours, 
Henry van Dyke 



PREFACE 

We sing the song of the Split-Bamboo. 

The author's previous book, Streamcraft, deals 
mainly with actual streamside technic — the selec- 
tion, care, rigging, and use of the rod; with the choos- 
ing of lures, natural and artificial, and their manipu- 
lation; and with fly-tying. Its contents, presented 
in a pocket form, well adapt it for a ready-reference 
companion on fishing expeditions and even when 
actually engaged on the water in the quest of the 
finny game. It comprises much data correlated from 
many sources, though always authoritative. But no- 
where else, to his knowledge, may guidance be found 
for the construction of the Split-Bamboo Rod equally 
comprehensive and detailed as in the pages that 
follow. This has been preceded by a dissertation 
on " The Joys of Angling," and there has been ap- 
pended some information on " Cultivating Silkworm- 
Gut at Home," and some suggestions on " Landing- 
Nets and Other Equipment," and for " The Angler's 
Camp." The former treatise is largely a working 
manual for the open season and the stream; this is 
more a book for Winter evenings and the fireside, 
and for the workshop. 



viii PREFACE 

The sportsman's transcendent implements are his 
rod and his gun. Compared with the glut of " gun- 
dope " — data on models, actions, bores, sights, 
gauges, shells, ballistics, etc. — constantly appearing 
in the outdoor journals and in book form for the 
consumption of the followers of Nimrod, there is a 
dearth of readily-available and plain technical infor- 
mation relating to the fishing-rod. While it might 
be urged that comparatively but few anglers would 
care to undertake the manufacture of this instrument 
in its glorified form, it requires little argument to 
convince anyone that fishermen in general, whether 
especially addicted either to fresh or salt water, love 
to tinker with their tackle; and no argument at all 
to elucidate that a treatise dealing with construction 
must perforce include full directions for all rod reno- 
vation and repairs. He that can make a rod cer- 
tainly can fix one. Further, we admit the temerity 
to trust that this book will appreciably stimulate an 
increase in the number of those who will be embold- 
ened to essay the " whole trick." 

Building a split-bamboo rod is an operation, and 
we have explained our technic with the same con- 
scientious care that we would observe in delineating 
the consecutive details of a surgical operation; for it 
is a matter of curious comment that amongst all we 
have read of definite instruction in this art, we never 
received any help from such sources in overcoming 
those particular difficulties in handling and working 



PREFACE ix 

bamboo which at first gave us the most trouble ; per- 
versely, as it seemed — albeit including much of in- 
terest and of value — these authorities told us every- 
thing except what we most needed to know for per- 
fect success, and at just such critical places they left 
us stranded. We earnestly hope to succeed here in 
obviating a like criticism. 

While some of the subjects discussed in these vol- 
umes have been dealt with much more exhaustively 
in various other and ofttimes sumptuous and expen- 
sive treatises — many of them of foreign author- 
ship — it has been the present writer's ambition to 
condense between the two pairs of covers more infor- 
mation than hitherto has appeared within the same 
extent of text, of essential, practical interest to the 
American fresh-water fisherman, and to the average 
type of enthusiastic American trout-fisherman of 
today in particular; and at the same time not with- 
out some flavor of the delightful literary, esthetic, 
and what may be termed the Nature sides of angling, 
which have inseparably been associated with the 
sport from the beginning. In this way it is hoped 
that the novice may easily attain an adequate idea of 
the comprehensive scope of his artful recreation, 
while our efforts shall not prove without interest 
even to those who have a more familiar acquaintance 
with the *' tight line." 

With appreciation we acknowledge our indebted- 
ness to Mr. Edwin T. Whiffen of New Rochelle, 



X PREFACE 

N. Y., and to the Forest and Stream magazine, for 
the use of Mr. Whiffen's delightful bit of natural his- 
tory comprised in Chapter XL 

That " good luck " in abundant measure may at- 
tend the reader, is the greeting of 

A Brother Angler 

Yonkers, N. Y., Winter, igig-20 



CONTENTS 

Dedication • • m 

Foreword, by Henry van Dyke . . . . . v 

Preface vii 

I The Joys of Angling 3 

Rod-Making : 

II Bamboo as a Rod Material 35 

III Splitting Out, Straightening, and Assembling 

the Strips 49 

IV Planing the Strips 69 

V Rod Tapers and Rod Plotting 91 

VI Gluing Up 117 

VII Ferrules and Their Fitting; One-Piece and 

Spliced Rods 133 

VIII Windings and Guides 151 

IX Handgrasp and Reelseat 177 

X Varnishing and Finishing 191 

XI Cultivating Silkworm-Gut at Home, by Edwin 

T. Whiffen 199 

XII Landing-Nets and Other Equipment . . . 233 

XIII The Angler's Camp 249 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Forerunner of the Split-Bamboo . . Frontispiece 
Title-page decoration, by Louis Rhead tacinq 

PAGE 

"Its patron saint Izaak Walton" i8 

" The haunts of wild things " ^ 20 

" Quiet woodland trails " 30 

Split-Bamboos of the Author's Make 196 

Cecropia Moth and Leaders Drawn from its Larva . 226 

Cutting Across Country 240 

The Ford of High Water 240 

Anglers' Camp 250 

A Rain-Defying Outside Camp-Fire 270 

" Come Get It " 272 

Still Young — In Enthusiasm 276 

And numerous additional cuts mainly illustrative of the 
technical text, some being from diagrammatic sketches by 
the author 

1 This flashlight of doe and fawns is une of four pictures by 
Mr. Shiras exhibited at the Paris Exposition by the U. S. Gov- 
ernment and receiving the Gold Medal ; and it was again ex- 
hibited at the World's Fair in St. Louis, being awarded the Grand 
Prize. 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 



THE IDYL OF THE 
SPLIT-BAMBOO 

CHAPTER I 
THE JOYS OF ANGLING 

Now, when the first foul torrents of the brooks, 
Swell'd with the vernal rains, is ebb'd away. 
And, whitening, down their mossy-tinctured stream 
Descends the billowy foara; now is the time 
To tempt the trout. The well-dissembled fly, 
The rod fine-tapering with elastic spring, 
Snatch'd from the hoary steed the floating line, 
And all thy slender watery stores prepare. 

When with his lively ray, the potent jun 
Has pierced the streams and roused the finny race. 
Then, issuing cheerful, to thy sport repair. 
Chief should the western breezes curling play, 
And light o'er ether bear the shadowy clouds. 
High to their fount, this day, trace up the brooks; 
The next, pursue their rocky-channel'd maze 
Down to the river, in whose ample wave 
Their little Naiads love to sport at large. 

Thomson's Seasons 

Fresh- or sweet-water angling is one of the most 
ancient, cleanest, most engrossing, enduring, health- 
ful, and accessible of recreations available in this 

3 



4 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

world of mingled riches and poverty, pleasure and 
pain, of steadfast affections and changing regard; 
and it possesses a considerable literature, both de- 
lightful and classical, extending from before the 
timeis of Dame Juliana Berners, prioress of Sopwell 
nunnery, and of its patron saint Izaak Walton, down 
to the present day. " Bards have sung its praises, 
traditions have hallowed it, and philosophers have 
reveled in the gentle pastime, since the days of 
Oppian and Homer." Need we say here for the 
enlightenment of anyone that Walton is the immor- 
tal author of *' a discourse on fish and fishing not 
unworthy the perusal of most anglers," the same 
being, as another famed angling writer aptly has 
characterized it, " a conglomeration of fertile mead- 
ows, crystal brooks, meandering streams, milk-maids' 
songs, and moral reflections," which down through 
the years has continued to " prove irresistible." 

Perhaps the reader may now be curious to know 
something of what the good Dame Berners had to 
say of " fysshynge ", in the year 1500 A. D. — 
"Dowteles thene folowyth it, that it must be the 
dysporte of fysshynge with an angle. For all other 
manere is also laborous, and grevous, whych many 
tymes hath be seen cause of grete infirmytes. But 
the angler may have no colde, nor no dysease nor 
angre, but if he be causer hymself. For he may not 
lese at the moost but a lyne or an hoke: of whych 
he may have store plentee of his owne makynge, as 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 5 

this symple treatise shall teche him. So, thenne, his 
losse is not greous, and other greffes may he not 
have, savynge but yf ony fisse breke away after that 
he is take on the hoke; or elles that he catche nought; 
which been not greous. For yf he dooth as this 
treatyse techyth, but yf there be nought in the water, 
and yette atte the leesth he hath holsom waike and 
mery, at his ease : a swete ayre of the swete savours 
of the mede floures, that makyth hym hungry. He 
hereth the melodyous armony of foules. He seeth 
the yonge swannes; heerons; duckes; cotes, and many 
other foules wyth theyrbrodes; whyche me seemyth 
better than alle of noyse of houndys; the blastes of 
hornys and the crye of foulis that hunters, faukeners 
and foulers can make. And yf the angler take 
fysshe: surely thenne is there noo man merier than 
he is in his spyryte." 

In 19 19 Emerson Hough comments at sixty-three: 
" By process of elimination, I have found a great 
many other sorts of sport of late to be too hard or 
too easy or too clean or too dirty. . . . Indeed, what 
really can equal the art of the fly-rod on a good trout- 
water? It is clean, it is beautiful beyond compari- 
son, it is difficult and- yet alluring. . . . It is danger- 
ous for a man with a weak heart to go trout-fishing, 
for he is liable to get a case of shell-shock at any 
time. You are going down a nice, quiet stream and 
you see a dark corner over there where a tree hangs 
out, over a pool which is as smooth as oil and black 



6 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

as ink. You know what is going to happen. You 
know you're going to be scared. You feel that you 
shall either jump into the creek or run for home 
when it does happen. It is manifestly impossible 
that it should happen at all — and yet that terrifying 
thing does happen. There comes the tremendous 
unheralded flash into the air of a crimson and white 
and orange creature, a terrifying phantasm, a mo- 
ment seen, then gone forever. Did you see it? 
Why, yes; but you forgot all about your rod and it 
certainly must have spit out the fly which it took as 
it went down half an hour ago. You stand and 
tremble, and look in apprehension at the spot where 
the little wrinkles still are spreading out on the oily 
ink. He might do that again. It takes a brave 
man to go after trout." 

It is surprising how many notables amongst pro- 
fessional workers and men prominent in the larger 
affairs of business and of the State have succumbed 
to the allurements of angling. Says Dr. van Dyke : 
Perhaps the fisherman whom you overtook on the 
stream " is a man whom you have known in town as 
a lawyer or a doctor, a merchant or a preacher, 
going about his business in the hideous respectability 
of a high silk-hat and a long black coat. How good 
it is to see him now in the freedom of a flannel shirt 
and a broad-brimmed grey felt with flies stuck around 
the band. I have had the good luck to see quite a 
number of bishops, parochial and diocesan, in that 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 7 

style, and the vision has always dissolved my doubts 
in regard to the validity of their claim to the true 
apostolic succession." 

The incurable piscatorial proclivities of President 
Cleveland and of his eminent surgeon friend Dr. 
Bryant, of Joseph Jefferson and of Rev. Dr. van 
Dyke himself, are matters of quite common knowl- 
edge; but there are many guilty others not known 
to the populace. There was Sir Humphry Davy, 
Admiral Nelson, Sir Walter Scott, Patrick Henry, 
Daniel Webster, " Christopher North " (John Wil- 
son, Professor of Moral Philosophy at the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh), Lord Tennyson, Canon Kings- 
ley, Audubon the naturalist, James Russell Lowell, 
Henry Ward Beecher, President Harrison, Bishop 
Potter, and James Whitcomb Riley; and think you 
that Thomson, the poet of The Seasons, was not a 
fisher? Davy tells in his Salmonia how, when the 
Bishop of Durharri inquired of the great Dr. Paley 
" when one of his most important works would be 
finished, he said, with great simplicity and good 
humor, ' My Lord, I shall work steadily at it when 
the fly-fishing season is over.' " And this reminds 
us that Canon Greenwell died in this same Durham 
only a year ago the eighteenth of January, at the ripe 
age of ninety-seven years. A famous English archae- 
ologist, he was known to the angling world as the 
inventor of " Greenwell's Glory," a salmon fly which 
has carried his name to rivers in all quarters of the 



8 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

globe. The wings of this fly are mottled black and 
brown, the legs are made from a red and black 
hackle-feather, and the body is dark-brown or olive 
silk or wool and ribbed with yellow silk or gold 
tinsel. 

Continuing with these later days, it would be diffi- 
cult to cite an example of more capable versatility 
than that exhibited in the life of S. Weir Mitchell, 
M. D. — equally noted as neurologist and novelist 
— and he did not omit a keen enthusiasm for ang- 
ling. There is Dr. Richard C. Cabot, who is the 
accomplished Assistant Professor of Medicine at 
Harvard University and the man responsible for the 
modern Social Service hospital idea, whose inspiring 
book, What Men Live By, should be read and re- 
read by everybody, angler or otherwise; and his 
confrere at Harvard, Dr. James G. Mumford, au- 
thor of another charming volume, A Doctor's Table 
Talk. The names of the sculptor J. Q. A. Ward, of 
" our friend " John Burroughs, of Thomas A. Edi- 
son, Eugen Ysaye the great Belgian violinist, An- 
drew Lang, Viscount Edward Grey, our Secretaries 
of State and of the Treasury, Robert Lansing and 
William G. McAdoo, the Assistant Secretary of the 
Interior, Alexander T. Vogelsang, of Marshal Joffre, 
and Sir Harry Lauder, and of a multitude of others 
which time and space alone forbid that we should 
mention, come to memory; the great surgeon Mc- 
Burney, of appendicitis fame, neither do we forget 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 9 

him, and at the next instant our thoughts instinctively 
turn to Dr. Robert T. Morris, who wields a pen as 
keen, swift, and sure as his scalpel, when he isn't 
wielding the latter, growing nuts, flora- or fauna- 
izing, or angling for salmon. As for Andrew Car- 
negie, the noted financier and philanthropist, when 
at the threshold of his seventies, upon returning from 
a brief vacation, he is quoted as having diverted an 
interviewer who sought to draw him out concerning 
a recent steel operation of magnitude, by exclaiming: 
" What is a matter of a few-milHon dollars' profit 
compared with landing a ten-pound pickerel! " 
When in his eighties, on July 7th, 1917, angling in 
Lake Mahkeenac near Lenox, Mass., he caught two 
black bass, thirty-four perch, and ten sunfish, in two- 
hours' time, declaring he never enjoyed better sport 
on his favorite loch in Scotland; and he was fishing 
in these same waters within a few days of his death, 
in the Summer of 19 19. 

The compilation of such a list of memorable men, 
of great eminence and learning, who likewise were 
great lovers and devotees of angling, has been pos- 
sible at almost any period in the world's history. 
From a famous reference in Father " Iz. Wa." we 
will mention " Dr. Nowel, sometimes Dean of S. 
Paul's in London (in which Church his Monument 
stands yet undefaced) a man that in the Reforma- 
tion of Queen Elizabeth was so noted for his meek 
spirit, deep Learning, Prudence and Piety, that the 



lo THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

then Parliament and Convocation both, chose, in- 
joyned, and trusted him to be the man to make a 
Catechism for pubhck use, such an one as should 
stand as a rule for faith and manners to their pos- 
teritie: And the good old man (though he was very 
learned, yet knowing that God leads us not to 
Heaven by many nor by hard questions) like a hon- 
est Angler, made that good, plain, unperplext Cate- 
chism, that is printed with the old Service Book. I 
say, this good man was as dear a lover, and a con- 
stant practicer of Angling, as any Age can produce; 
and his custome was to spend (besides his fixt hours 
of prayer, those hours which by command of the 
Church were enjoined the old Clergy, and voluntarily 
dedicated to devotion by many Primitive Chris- 
tians:) besides those hours, this good man was ob- 
served to spend a tenth part of his time in Angling; 
and also (for I have conversed with those which 
have conversed with him) to bestow a tenth part 
of his Revenue, and usually all his fish, amongst the 
poor that inhabited near to those Rivers in which it 
was caught, saying often, That Charity gave life to 
Religion: and at his return to his House would 
praise God that he had spent that day free from 
worldly trouble, both harmlesly and in a Recreation 
that became a Church-man. And this good man 
was well content, if not desirous, that Posterity 
should know he was an Angler, as may appear by 
his Picture, now to be seen, and carefully kept in 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING ii 

Brazennose College, to which he was a liberal Bene- 
factor; in which Picture he is drawn leaning on a 
desk with his Bible before him, and on one hand of 
him his Lines, Llooks, and other Tackling lying in a 
round; and on his other hand are his Angle-rods of 
several sorts; and by them this is written, 'That 
he died 13 Feb. 1601, being aged 95 years, 44 of 
which he had been Dean of St. Paul's Church; and 
that his age had neither impaired his hearing, nor 
dimmed his eyes, nor weakened his memory, nor 
made any of the faculties of his mind weak or use- 
less.' 'T is said that Angling and Temperance were 
great causes of these blessings, and I wish the like 
to all that imitate him, and love the memory of so 
good a man." 

Continues Walton, " My next and last example 
shall be that undervaluer of money, the late Provost 
of Eton College, Sir Henry Wotton (a man with 
whom I have often fish'd and convers'd) a man 
whose foraign imployments in the service of this 
Nation, and whose experience, learning, wit, and 
cheerfulness, made his company to be esteemed one 
of the delights of mankind; this man, whose very 
approbation of Angling were sufficient to convince 
any modest Censurer of it, was also a most dear 
lover, and a frequent practicer of the Art of Ang- 
ling; of which he would say, ' 'T was an imployment 
for his idle time, which was not idly spent;' for Ang- 
ling was after tedious study, ' A rest to his mind, a 



12 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer 
of unquiet thoughts, a Moderator of passions, a 
procurer of contentedness, and that it begat habits 
of peace and patience in those that profest and 
practic'd it.' 

" Sir, this was the saying of that Learned man; 
and I do easily believe that peace, and patience, and 
a calm content did cohabit in the cheerful heart of 
Sir Henry Wotton, because I know that when he was 
beyond seventy years of age, he made this descrip- 
tion of a part of the present pleasure that possest 
him, as he sat quietly in a Summer's evening on a 
bank a fishing; it is a description of the Spring, 
which because it glided as soft and sweetly from his 
pen, as that River does now by which it was then 
made, I shall repeat it unto you: 

"This day dame Nature seem'd in love; 

The lustie sap began to move; 

Fresh juice did stir th' imbracing Vines, 

And birds had drawn their Valentines, 

The jealous Trout, that low did lye, 

Rose at a well dissembled flie; 

There stood my friend with patient skill, 

Attending of his trembling quil. 

Already were the eaves possest 

With the swift Pilgrim's dawbed nest: 

The Groves already did rejoice, 

In Philomel's triumphing voice: 

The showers were short, the weather mild. 

The morning fresh, the evening smil'd. 

Joan takes her neat rub'd pail, and now 

She trips to milk the sand-red Cow; 

Where, for some sturdy foot-ball Swain, 

Joan strokes a Sillibub or twaine; 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 13 

The fields and gardens were beset 
With Tulips, Crocus, Violet, 
And now, though late, the modest Rose 
Did more than half a blush disclose. 
Thus all looks gay, and full of chear 
To welcome the new livery'd year." 

Would you go " a-angling " then, thou sedate 
and solid citizen, be last of all restrained because of 
the company you will keep. Do you not recall about 
that historical fishers' lunch around the little camp- 
fire by the waterside? — " Peter saith, ... I go a 
fishing. They say, . . . We also go with thee. 
. . . Jesus stood on the shore. . . . Then Jesus 
salth unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They 
answered him. No. And he said, . . . Cast the net 
on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. . . . 
As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire 
of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 
Jesus salth, . . . Bring of the fish which ye have 
now caught. . . . Come and dine. Jesus then 
Cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish 
likewise." If, now, your conservatism still shies at 
" new-fangled frivolities," read in the nineteenth 
chapter of Isaiah about " all they that cast angle 
into the brooks;" in the book of Job, where the Lord 
asked him, " Canst thou take out a fish with the 
hook?" or in the first chapter of Habakkuk, how 
" they take up all of them with the angle." 

Perhaps the sustained Interest of such men as 
those referred to Is not so surprising either, when 



14 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

we consider the opportunities that angling affords of 
Intimate, leisurely enjoyment of Nature in her most 
beguiling moods and with the added zest of agree- 
able companionship; for anglers are admittedly a 
quiet, considerate, genial, and gentle craft. 

The pastime does indeed supply a most happy and 
Inspiring change of activities from the usual more or 
less sedentary occupations of its most ardent vota- 
ries, its varied technic with the combination of open- 
air life, not too fatiguing exercise, and the complete 
change of environment being subtly efficacious for 
the solacement of nerves jangled and out of tune 
and for the revivifying of the whole man — or 
woman. Physicians have reason a-plenty keenly to 
realize that a warped mentality or a sick soul pre- 
sents an Infinitely more serious problem than does a 
disordered body. I have now In mind one who but 
a few short months ago was the personification of 
ambition and will power, and who at the present time 
Is a pitiable example of a strong man bereft of con- 
fidence and groping and shrinking In the grip of par- 
alyzing fears. By what means should men strive to 
forestall such a calamity? and how are they to be 
helped out of such a Slough of Despond? Dr. Rich- 
ard C. Cabot says that what the bhnd, the worried, 
the invalid, the discouraged, the convalescent, the 
neurasthenic, the drug-victim — what the whole 
world needs both to keep well people well and for 
the restoration of the sick, is vitality and resisting 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 15 

power. " As contradistinguished from the hot- 
house care of sanitaria, we are realizing more and 
more that the sufferer must be encouraged to get 
back into real life, which is the best of all teachers 
and doctors. Nothing less fruitful will nourish body 
and soul." 

*' Real life " he defines as more satisfying and In- 
teresting occupation, more recreation or refreshment 
through art, play, or natural beauty, deeper and more 
intensive affection; and if a fourth resource, wor- 
ship, gets into life, so much the better, though it has 
become today so unfashionable a habit that one 
must be prepared to shock the modern ear and to 
violate all the scientific proprieties if one confesses 
to a belief in it. The interplay of these four inex- 
orable blessings — responsibility, recreation, affec- 
tion, and through them a glimpse of God — is the 
end of life, and the sole worthy end in my creed, 
says he ; and continues : 

' I came to the belief first from a doctor's point of 
view and as a result of a search for the essential prin- 
ciples of healing within a special field. This is the 
end of all education, all moral training, the food of 
the soul in health or in disease, needed by all, to 
feed our own souls as well as to cure and to prevent 
social ills. This is the vital nourishment without 
which all material relief soon becomes a farce or a 
poison, just as medicine in most chronic diseases is a 
farce or a poison. Every human being, man, 



i6 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

woman, and child, hero and convict, neurasthenic and 
deep-sea fisherman, needs the blessing of God 
through these four gifts. It is not often, I believe, 
that a whole life is possessed by any one of the ele- 
ments of play, work, or drudgery. Work usually 
makes up the larger part of life, with play and 
drudgery sprinkled in. I have rarely seen drudgery 
so overwhelming as to crush out altogether the play 
of humor and good-fellowship during the day's toil 
as well as after it.' 

So this book has particularly to do with refresh- 
ment through the play that is " sprinkled in," 
through the contact with art — since the building 
of a bamboo fly-rod and the skilled use thereof both 
are arts — and with the beauty of nature and its in- 
centive to truest worship of God; and all of this nat- 
urally enough is of interest to the medical-man from 
the viewpoints both of outdoor recreation and of 
indoor handicraft. 

In some way, and at stated intervals, all of us 
should divert from our routine work, and do some- 
thing spontaneously — whole-heartedly, with the 
zest and abandonment of the boy we used to be, and 
still should be on occasion. For 

" He that works, then runs away, 
Will live to work another day." 

Very few of us indeed are so placed as never to find 
it possible either to " break out " or to " break 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 17 

away "; none incessantly so situated as was that un- 
known ancient and most unfortunate author of this 
pathetic pair of couplets : 

See I a dog? there 's ne'er a stone to throw! 
Or stone? there 's ne'er a dog to hit I trow! 
Or if at once both stone and dog I view — 
It is the king's dog! Damn! What can I do? 

Says Dr. A. T. Bristow in The World's Work 
magazine, " The man who wishes to secure the best 
results from the days which he spends in search of 
rest and renewed vigor, will not seek the artificial 
life of our great hotels with all the attendant ex- 
citement, false standards of living, and a table which 
is an invitation to gluttony. So we in our struggle 
with the gigantic forces which make up modern civil- 
ization must return to nature for refreshment and 
renewed strength. The forest, the mountains, and 
the streams hide the eHxir of life. We need to get 
away from the crowds, from idle gossip, from the 
trivial observances of society, the fetters of custom. 
There is no rest like that which is hid for the weary 
within the shady recesses of the great woods, and 
camp life is far preferable to that counterfeit of 
camp life, a hotel in the mountains. You can sleep 
as soundly in a bark camp on a thick bed of balsam 
as on the softest mattress in a hotel bedroom. A 
tramp through the woods is what you need for mind 
and body. The fatigue will bring to your tired eyes 
sleep far more refreshing than the stuporous slumber 



i8 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

you have experienced in a hotel, superinduced by late 
hours and the plethora of over-eating without suffi- 
cient exercise. 

" Remember that there is no better exercise for 
anyone than wallcing. It gives the rambler time to 
learn needed lessons from nature, and it is free from 
the excitement of high speed, which is the very thing 
that a vacation should avoid. The man who hurls 
himself through space in a high-powered automobile 
is not resting. He simply is substituting one form 
of mental stimulation for another. He is like those 
unfortunate victims of the drug habit who go from 
morphine to cocaine and from both to whisky. 
Their diseased nerves crave some sort of artificial 
stimulus. So it often is with our business-men in 
their ' relaxations.' 

" What these men need is the repose of the woods, 
the calmness of spirit that comes to the tired mind 
only amidst mountain solitudes. To invite a man 
of active mind to a ramble through the forest with- 
out an incentive is, however, almost as bad as to ad- 
vise him to saw wood for exercise. Such an occu- 
pation affords exercise, but it is a nauseous dose 
which is too often taken submissively if not with 
cheerfulness. There is no better motive for the 
forest wanderer, whether his paths be by mountain 
stream or highland tarn, than the time-honored sport 
of good old Izaak Walton. Go a-fishing. 

" The angler's art is but a pretext or rather the 











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COPYRIGHT BY THE CENTURY CO. 



'ITS PATRON SAINT IZAAK WALTON' 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 19 

incentive to a ramble, and not the sole object of the 
fisherman, unless, alas! he belongs to that too com- 
mon variety, the man whose sole object is his catch. 
Such a man fishes always with a worm, hides finger- 
lings in the depth of his basket, and photographs his 
catch as a witness to his crimes. He Is not a fisher- 
man but a butcher. A yellow primrose on the river's 
brim is to him a primrose and nothing more. The 
true fisherman loves to catch fish, to match his wits 
against the wary trout, but as he wanders from pool 
to pool the songs of the birds greet him restfuUy; 
every turn in the stream reveals a nook in which 
strange wild flowers nestle. The gentle excitement 
of the sport prevents the scene from becoming 
monotonous. The element of chance, the uncer- 
tainty of the catch, adds the drop of tabasco sauce 
which gives zest to the day. And the noontide meal 
by the brink of the stream I When did a meal have 
a more delightful flavor? Delmonico never served 
a trout like unto those we have eaten by the banks 
of a mountain brook with the clear blue sky above, 
the waving forest round about and the murmuring 
stream at our feet. The hour of contemplation 
comes afterward with the pipe of peace in our hand 
instead of the relinquished rod. How far off the 
city seems ! Are there such things as corporations, 
trustSj stocks, bonds; electric lights that amaze the 
sight, harsh warnings of trolley gongs, the rumble 
and grind of the wheels and the brakes on the ele- 



20 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

vated road which affright the ear? The harshest 
note that breaks the stillness here is the boom of the 
bittern in the distant marsh. Home to camp the 
fisherman goes, taking a cast in this silent pool in 
which the trout rose in the forenoon to his cast but 
missed the fly, or in that dark hole deep under the 
bank in which a vigilant eye may detect the brown 
sides of a trout with lazily waving fins and tail — 
an old campaigner not easily caught. 

" So the shades of evening find the ramble ended, 
and no harsher beams than the soft radiance of the 
stars or the gentle spark of the fireflies and the glow- 
worm light the wayfarer to his repose. 

" There are other incentives which are able to 
make the haunts of wild things attractive. To a 
man who has walked through the woods for exercise 
much as he would saw wood by a woodpile, a walk 
through the tangled paths with a naturalist is both 
an astonishment and a revelation. A few years ago 
popular works on nature-study were things un- 
known. The only means of information for the 
inquiring amateur were purely technical; works such 
as Gray's Botany, to a beginner as uninteresting and 
difficult as a work on differential calculus. Now there 
are whole libraries of books which are both interest- 
ing, popular and true to the scientific facts.^ There 

2 The interested reader will do well to investigate the very inexpensive 
Chester A. Reed flower and bird pocket-guides, illustrated in color; Mrs. 
Dana's How to Know the Wild Flowers, and How to Know the Ferns; 
the Chapman bird books; Collins and Preston's Key to the Trees; Julia 
Ellen Roger's Tree Guide; Keeler's Our Native Trees; F. Schuyler Mathews' 




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THE JOYS OF ANGLING 21 

are fifty-seven species of fern described in one book, 
and of these the writer collected twenty-two during 
a three-weeks' stay in the Adirondacks. Some were 
found half way up Catamount, some on the slopes 
of Whiteface, one or two on the face of cliffs over- 
looking Wilmington. The memories of that Sum- 
mer are delightful, and as we look over the specimens 
we gathered in those wanderings, my wife and I, the 
scenes come back to us and we live those delectable 
days again," 

A long quotation, this, but we freely admit that 
we could not have said it so well as has Dr. Bristow. 
We are of those unafraid of quotations, and now 
invite the reader to attend to this selection from 
Edwin Sandys, borrowed from the same source as 
the foregoing. " Fishing leads its devotee into 
pleasant places, and because the true angler needs 
must also be part poet, such ears, perhaps, best hear 
the sermon of streams and stones. There are no 
cleaner things than pure air and water, and did fish- 
ing offer no more than these it would be entitled to 
consideration. But it does much more, for of it 
might truly be said: Its ways are pleasant; its 
paths are peaceful — which means much. 

" The more important fishes of our fresh waters, 
grouped according to habitat, include the salmon, 
trout, ouananiche, and the grayling, of rapid rivers 
and brooks and cold lakes of the rock-bound regions; 

various field books; etc. Of course he already has made the acquaintance 
of John Burroughs. 



22 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

the black, the rock and other basses and the perch 
of streams and lakes other than typical trout waters; 
the maskinonge and pike of the Great Lakes and 
their tributaries, and the various pickerel and the 
wall-eyed pike common to weedy waters of a great 
extent of the country. 

" Of the salmon and Its fishing it is unnecessary 
to speak at length. Very few of the salmon rivers 
of the East are open to the fishing public, and only 
a specialist with the two-handed tackle is likely to 
attempt the capture of the king of game-fish. The 
ouananiche, too, is not a fish for the masses. It is 
a game fighter, and at certain times a free riser, but 
it is found in but a few of the Northern waters. 
Its stronghold is Lake St. John, that Mecca of the 
sportsman northward bound from Quebec City. In 
Lake St. John and its tributary rivers, but especially 
at the lake's outlet, which is the beginning of the 
famous Saguenay River, is the stronghold of the 
high-leaping ouananiche, and thfere the acrobatic 
small salmon has been taken by many a tourist- 
angler. And there are other salmon. Some of the 
waters of the Far West at certain seasons are visited 
by countless salmon of aUied yet distinct species, and 
many a fine fish, though inferior to the Atlantic spe- 
cies, falls victim to the common trolling-spoon and 
other devices. 

" Beyond question the most popular of our game- 
fish Is that spangled aristocrat of the hurrying 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 23 

stream, the brook-trout. In addition to his beauty 
and palatableness, there is a dash and go about his 
method which strongly appeals to those who like 
rapid action in their sport — and who does not? 
Furthermore, the typical trout water is in itself a 
most beautiful thing. Be the region plain or pictur- 
esque, the trout stream surely travels the most attrac- 
tive part of it. Follow its musical bickering down a 
valley and you will be led through one of Nature's 
picture galleries, with choice bits arranged in marvel- 
ous profusion upon either side. Glorious greenery, 
lichened rock, grim cliff, echoing vault, thunder- 
voiced fall, bubble-spangled ripple and mystic, velvet- 
shadowed pool follow in endless succession. And 
with it all the silver song of merry waters, perhaps 
chording true at shadowtime with the contralto of 
the thrushes. And so you lose yourself in the en- 
chanted cavern of green. 

" There is nothing evil to be found in all our hun- 
dreds of miles of trout waters. Only the celestial 
pavement itself is cleaner than the pure, sweet water, 
forever washing its bed and bounds and forever sing- 
ing o'er its wholesome task. A trout stream is a 
good place for most folks to be. And we have an 
abundance of streams — for, broadly speaking, a 
rock country is a trout country. To remove the 
trout country from this continent would be to render 
it unrecognizable. There would remain prairies, 
marshlands, the regions of sluggish streams and 



24 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

placid ponds. The best of the easily reached free 
fishing is to be enjoyed upon the hill streams of the 
Adirondacks, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. If 
you go farther there are still within reasonable dis- 
tance the famous waters of the Rangeley and Moose- 
head systems of Maine, the Megantic waters of Que- 
bec, the wilds of New Brunswick, the marvelous 
silver net of the North shore of the St. Lawrence and 
of Northern Ontario, which extends to the newly 
exploited region of the upper Ottawa and to that 
stronghold of big trout, the North shore of Lake 
Superior. All of these regions, both American and 
Canadian, are comfortably accessible by rail, and no 
railroad worthy of the name fails to pay strict atten- 
tion to the comfort of anglers. 

" I have fished in every one of the extensive re- 
gions named, and the average angler may visit any 
one of them with a certainty of enjoying fair fun 
and an excellent chance of extraordinary sport. 
Were the purse, leisure, and experience, or lack of it, 
of every reader known, it would be a comparatively 
easy task to name one particular water which would 
be almost certain to meet the requirements; but 
lacking full knowledge of individual desires, any 
attempt at the role of guide-post would be absurd. 
But the individual can get helpful, because as a whole 
reliable, information by securing a sporting guide- 
book of a rail-road traversing the preferred coun- 
try. Because I have written some of them and read 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 25 

the others I know they are not dangerously enthu- 
siastic, especially over the more remote waters. 
In fact, not a few of them actually fail to do full 
justice to the regions they refer to. The pen of a 
wizard of word-painting could not overdraw the 
beauties of at least four-fifths of our trout waters, 
which will, under ordinary conditions, yield all the 
fish that clean sportsmanship can demand." 

Very true, Mr. Sandys — and also true that good 
sport, if not the most exciting, may be reached from 
most of the humble homes of the land, within a rea- 
sonable journey for the ubiquitous Ford, the motor- 
cycle, bicycle, trolley-car, or even shanks' mare. 
There are the Sullivan County and other Catskill 
streams of New York, streams of the White Moun- 
tain region in New Hampshire, streams in Vermont, 
New Jersey, and in Massachusetts. We have seen a 
dozen native trout creeled legitimately in August, 
only three days before the close of the season, from 
public water not fifteen miles out of New York City. 
And almost any pond will yield either bass, pickerel, 
or such very acceptable pan-fish as perch, rock-bass, 
or " sunnies." 

With a similar charming felicity have many other 
writers depicted the joys of angling. Of the numer- 
ous pleasures that are closely connected with its pur- 
suit — '* its accompaniments and variations, which 
run along with the tune and weave an embroidery of 
delight around it," to borrow a fragment of Dr. van 



26 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

Dyke's plenitude of happy phraseology — the Inti- 
mate study of stream insect-life and the pretty art 
of the tying of artificial flies in imitation of these 
ephemera, in particular, constitute a very soul-satis- 
fying diversion and accomplishment. But having 
already discussed this elsewhere, it is the writer's 
present paramount purpose to enlighten those who 
would add to their accustomed enjoyment of the 
sport the pleasures of craftsmanship involved in the 
construction of the angler's chief implement of his 
art, that magic wand, his rod. 

When touching upon this phase of the subject even 
a professional rod-maker needs must lean to poesy 
in order to explain adequately why the rod plays the 
most important part in the angler's equipment, as 
witness this extract from a trade catalog: " Its de- 
velopment to the present state of perfection has 
heightened the enjoyment of the sport to a degree 
far beyond any that was attainable by the angler of 
the olden time. The ecstatic period of supreme sen- 
sation which is peculiarly the angler's inspiration and 
delight was formerly of short duration, and often 
with inglorious ending. Not so today, for the mod- 
ern rod has made it possible for the entrancing thrill 
that comes to him through the titillation of the elbow 
by the vibratory connection of his hand and arm with 
a gamy fish at the other end of a rod and line, to be 
long drawn out, with intensely stimulating variations, 
in a contest calHng into play the highest qualities of 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 27 

manly sportsmanship, and in which both victor and 
vanquished may fairly be credited with honors nobly 
won." Is any further assurance needed that this 
man makes good rods? Anyway, we will say right 
here that he does — beauties. 

The acme of perfection In angling-rods — " the 
rod fine-tempered with elastic spring " — is realized 
only in one built properly of six strips of split bam- 
boo. In the maximum combination of the qualities 
of resiliency, balance, and lightness with power, 
quickness, and smoothness or sweetness of action, 
such an one is unsurpassed; and the split-bamboo rod^, 
of the best American manufacture has no superior 
the world over. In making this statement we are 
not heedless of the improvements upon this standard 
model that have been attempted, principally by our 
English cousins across the big pond. Various pain- 
fully ingenious combinations have been achieved, of 
bamboo without and steel core within, steel core 
within and braided steel, copper, or bronze ribbands 
outside, split cane inside and whole cane outside, and 
all sorts of other arrangements, in eight strips of 
cane, in nine strips, built double In twelve, sixteen, 
or eighteen strips — modifications leading all the 
way up — or down — to the rolled tubular whole- 
steel rod of American make. Most of these varia- 
tions are possible only for the butt- and middle- 
joints of a rod, the top-joint or top — or as Ameri- 
can anglers say less explicitly, the tip — being gen- 



28 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

erally of clear bamboo. The British manufacturer 
has a penchant also for combining different woods 
in individual rods, as a greenheart butt- and second- 
joint with a bamboo top, or an ash or hickory butt 
with greenheart and bamboo for the other sections. 

But of any of these mongrels we will have naught; 
as for us we pin our faith and fealty to the silk- 
wound hexagonal rod cunningly yet simply devised 
of its six subtle, individual triangular strips of cane 
throughout, and we can but view with compassion 
that angler who suffers a permanent perverted at- 
tachment to some one or other of the monstrosities 
mentioned above. 

The making of a split-bamboo rod is readily 
within the accomplishment of anyone who can handle 
a few of the simpler carpenters'-tools, with patience 
— and your true angler already has this quality well 
developed. A little time, a little absorbingly in- 
teresting work, a small outlay for rod fittings or 
mountings, and forty-cents' worth of bamboo in the 
rough is transformed into the most beautiful of all 
sporting implements, that the owner could not have 
duplicated by a professional rod-maker for forty 
dollars. A knife, a small plane, and a file are the 
principal necessary cutting tools, and with two or 
three simple contrivances, and one all-important de- 
vice, these cover the essential instruments. 

Almost any manual labor, especially if diverting 
and concentrating the attention into novel paths, is 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 29 

balm for the jaded or worried mind. This work is 
light and innately fascinating. How it would have 
been welcomed by many persons whom the writer 
has known, while monotonously convalescent from 
exasperating illness or accident; how it would have 
sweetened and shortened the days and have proven 
hypnotic at night for many a weary traveler along 
the road to restored bodily health and mental se- 
renity. Patients often read and read during' a 
forced period of shutting-in until they can't read any 
longer, and don't know what in the world next to 
do to alleviate the tedium of the dragging hours and 
days. We escaped this experience during an eight- 
weeks' quarantine for scarlet fever, in beguiling 
many an hour by winding rod-joints with silk, satis- 
fied that the subsequent coats of varnish preceded 
by an alcohol bath would prove effectively disin- 
fectant. It was during this incarceration that first 
we learned of the virtues of pinochle; and the feel- 
ing nightly adieu of our teacher Jones, repeated each 
day with increasing unction, comes back to us as we 
write these words — the place was the City Hos- 
pital : " Thank God ! one more day less in the pest- 
house." 

Not only is the angler's sport, like any other, 
greatly enhanced by the employment of implements 
of his own creation, but the very making of a rod is 
an idyl in craftsmanship, furnishing a recreation 
salutary and delightful in itself during the wintry 



30 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

days which debar actual but not anticipatory enjoy- 
ment of limpid lakes, quiet woodland trails, inspiring 
mountain heights, merry brooks, and companionable 
little rivers. 

After experiencing for many years the pleasures 
to be derived from the possession of this handi- 
craft, and having gained from that experience, in- 
cluding conference with brother anglers addicted to 
the same avocation, the most vital parts of what he 
knows about the subject, it becomes an added pleas- 
ure for the writer to pass the knowledge along to 
yet other Waltonians, who hitherto have missed 
this culminating enjoyment of their favorite sport. 
Thus, as truly as did " Piscator " in the writing of 
his immortal pastoral, the present author likewise 
has "made a recreation of a recreation"; and too 
has endeavored, despite its technical character, to 
have his text " not to read dully and tediously." 

The reader is assured at the outset that by care- 
ful attention to and the following out of the very ex- 
plicit directions contained in the chapters immedi- 
ately following, he can construct not merely a pass- 
ably-good split-bamboo rod, but a high-grade article 
that any expert angler would be glad to own — a 
rod that will have balance, action, finish, and dis- 
tinction, and the possession of which will give infinite 
satisfaction to its creator. Admittedly, the process 
involves some manipulations of delicacy but none of 
discouraging difficulty, as all there is to it may be 




COPYRIGHT BY DETROIT PHOTOGRAPHIC CO. 



QUIET WOODLAND TRAILS 
(An Adirondack carry) 



THE JOYS OF ANGLING 31 

summed up in careful attention to a number of de- 
tails in their proper sequence and not one of which 
truly is difficult in itself — and what could be better 
exercise for youth ? for the same constitutes the suc- 
cessful conduct of life. From the standpoint of 
commercial manufacture, while some of the ways 
and means which will be elucidated might provoke 
a smile from the professional rod-maker — and we 
will not say without justification — nevertheless they 
will be found fully efficient for the production of one 
or two to a dozen or more rods for the personal 
equipment of the amateur angler, to whom our re- 
marks are addressed. So — 

Here's to the swish of the Split-Bamboo ! — 

Flitting my flies o'er riffle and pool, 
Bidding all grown-up cares adieu, 

Back again coming to Nature's school. 
May the wind blow soft, my cast light true, 

As Fontinalis I try to fool. 
And my creel have received its due 

When come the shades of evening cool. — 
Here's to the swish of the Split-Bamboo! — 
Musical swish of my oivn bamboo. 



ROD-MAKING: 
BAMBOO AS A ROD MATERIAL 



CHAPTER II 

ROD-MAKING: 
BAMBOO AS A ROD MATERIAL 

The material of which split-bamboo angling-rods 
of quality are made is not derived from our Ameri- 
can Southern species, inferior in strength and elasti- 
city, but chiefly is bamboo from India or the Tonkin 
(Tonquin) cane from the province of that name, 
which is the most northerly one of Cochin China. 
Though differing in features to be noted, both of 
these grow under similar climatic conditions. We 
have no personal acquaintance with Japanese cane. 

Bamboo or Bambusa is a genus of grasses, of ap- 
proximately one-hundred species, attaining a height 
generally of from twenty to one-hundred feet. 
They all have an underground root-stock which 
throws up from five to one-hundred stems. The 
straight horizontal branches are not developed until 
the stems have reached their full height and they 
are denser toward the top. The stems or stalks 
(botanically, "culms") are jointed, like those of 
other grasses, and contain within only a light, spongy 

35 



36 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



pith except at the joints or nodes, where they are 
divided by strong partitions. Upon the outside of 
the stalks are circumscribing ridges corresponding 
to the site of the partitions within. Because of 

these partitions, sec- 
tions of bamboo- 
stalk are readily con- 
verted into water- 
bottles, and, upon re- 
moval of the parti- 
tions, the stalks of 
the larger species, 
attaining a diameter 
of five or six inches, 
are used in the Orient 
for piping water. 

Interest attaches 
to the use of the 
word " cane " as ap- 
plied to bamboo. 
Botanically, cane re- 
fers to any plant 
having long, hard, 
elastic stems. Walking-sticks originally were desig- 
nated " canes " only when made of cane, as from the 
smaller stems of bamboo imported into Europe for 
this purpose. Thus bamboo does not derive its 
name of cane from the walking-stick, but, conversely, 
" cane " as applied generally to the walking-stick 




Growing bamboo 



BAMBOO AS A ROD MATERIAL 37 

arose from the specific use of cane In the manufac- 
ture thereof. 

Bamboo-stalk is remarkable for its combined 
hardness, strength, lightness, and elasticity, and these 
qualities, together with its availability and the ease 
with which it may be split into narrow strips, at once 
commend It for a multitude of uses, such as for mats, 
baskets, pipe-stems, spear and lance shafts, flutes, 
palaquin-poles, masts, for building furniture, houses, 
and bridges. 

In all species the outer covering of the stem is 
extremely hard and siliceous, and its walls become 
progressively softer and more friable from with- 
out toward the inner pith. The knots of some spe- 
cies of bamboo exude a sweetish juice which expo- 
sure to the air thickens into a gum that the Greeks 
called " Indian honey." The fruit of some varieties 
is a grain, of others a nut, or again a fleshy product 
more like an apple. Some young bamboo-shoots are 
eaten like asparagus with us. 

As has been said, bamboo grows in all sizes, from 
the species attaining only a few feet in height to the 
Bambusa Guadua of New Granada or the Java 
article, which may have trunks sixteen inches in 
diameter; and the stems of the different species vary 
much In the thickness of the woody part. A 
smoothly cut cross-section of the stalk will show its 
walls to be cellular or honeycombed In character, 
the cells being more closely compacted as the outer 



38 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



surface is approached. The depth of this 
" enamel " or strength-imparting stratum varies both 
actually and relatively to the thickness of individual 
stem-walls; and different species of bamboo, as also 
different stems of the same species, vary considerably 
in their straightness of growth. In all species the 
rate of growth is very rapid and in some almost in- 
credibly so. 

It goes without saying that stems having rela- 
tively thicker and denser enamel strata will be su- 
perior for use where strength and elasticity are prime 
requisites; and this factor of hardness or solidity to- 
gether with straightness of the stems and knots that 

are but slightly swollen, 
is what particularly com- 
mends bamboo for rod- 
making. 

Upon bending a strip 
split from a bamboo-stem, 
the convexity of the curve 
corresponding to the outer 
or " rind " side, when the breaking-point is reached 
it will be noted that this hard outer layer is com- 
posed of long fibers which splinter into brush- 
like ends. These fibers are interrupted at the nodes 
or knots and interlace there, and when the strength- 
ening partition is cut away they mark the weakest 
place in the wall; a strip will easily break off short 
at this point. 







Lateral section of a joint of 
bamboo stalk through node 



BAMBOO AS A ROD MATERIAL 39 

Up to some thirty-odd years ago most manufac- 
turers of angling-rods employed the Indian (Cal- 
cutta) bamboo for their purpose, and an occasional 
veteran angler will be encountered today who firmly 
believes that a Calcutta-bamboo rod is the only bam- 
boo rod. But the truth of the matter Is that the 
day of the Calcutta rod has passed; and yet the best 
rods made now are far better than any that Dad or 
even Grandfather ever owned. A conspicuous su- 
perficial feature identifying the Indian cane is the 
irregularly mottled effect produced by the burn- or 
scorch-marks, always found on this variety and con- 
trasting prettily with its naturally yellow rind when 
thoroughly seasoned. This ordinarily is not seen in 
the Tonkin or Chinese cane, and when found in the 
experience of the author it was neither so extensive 
nor fantastic. The latter bamboo, as purchased in 
the American market, generally has a smooth un- 
marked surface of a little brighter yellow shade than 
that of the Calcutta cane. 

Encyclopedia references make no note of these ar- 
tificial brown markings which ordinarily are taken 
to be merely decorative. Henry P. Wells mentions 
six possible explanations of their occurrence in his 
Fly-Rods and Fly-Tackle. To the best knowledge 
of the present writer they are the result of searing 
the green bamboo-stalks with hot irons in the drying 
out and straightening process, before marketing 
them. 



4D THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

As the first split-bambpo rods offered the angling 
fraternity were made of the Calcutta cane, it was 
natural that these markings came to be indissolubly 
associated with the only genuine thing in such rods. 
Later on, when for one reason or another it became 
increasingly difficult to secure a high grade of Cal- 
cutta bamboo for the American rod-maker, recourse 
was had to the Tonkin variety, and today by far 
most of the best rods both of domestic and British 
manufacture — and including the two brands most 
generally regarded as the best of all — are made 
of the Tonkin cane. 

Very likely the reason for the usual absence of 
scorch-marks on Tonkin bamboo is that its stalks 
grow straighter than those of the Calcutta article, 
thus making it of less importance to " take out the 
kinks " before sending it to market. However, for 
the purpose of rod-making, it doubtless was expe- 
dient for a time to reproduce on the Tonkin cane 
marks similar to those which had become familiar 
to persons acquainted with the Calcutta bamboo, and 
intimately associated in their minds with the intrinsic 
qualities of elasticity, etc., highly desirable in an 
angling-rod. To this end some strongly-corrosive 
acid may have been employed at times. But when 
the Tonkin article came to be fully proven the equal 
of if not superior to the other for this specific pur- 
' pose, then the trade could afford to put it into rods 



BAMBOO AS A ROD MATERIAL 41 

undisguised and unadorned, strictly on its own un- 
deniable merits. 

Most of the bamboo that reaches America comes 
in as ballast for returning light cargoes, and as pur- 
chased from the dealer the tyro rod-maker will re- 
ceive it in butts or stalks of from four to six feet in 
length. The six-foot " sticks " are what he prefer- 
ably should ask for; and they will vary in diameter, 
at the larger end, from a little more than one inch 
to two inches ; they will average about an inch-and-a- 
quarter, and have a maximum thickness of wall of 
from three-sixteenths to three-eighths of an inch. 
For some reason — apparently mysterious because 
of the prevalence and rapid growth of bamboo and 
the size attained by many varieties — larger butts 
are not obtainable in the American market. Our 
own impression is that this may be explained by the 
fact that these readily obtainable larger kinds are 
of more rapid growth, of looser fiber, and deficient 
in elasticity; and experience would seem to have con- 
firmed this. Through an interested friend in touch 
with an Oriental importing-house, and after months 
of correspondence — starting in India with officials 
at the Calcutta Botanical Gardens — we received 
some stalks over ten feet long, very smooth and 
straight, nearly three inches in diameter, and measur- 
ing over three feet between knots; but the stuff was 
thin-walled and deficient in hardness, compactness of 



42 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

fiber, and elasticity, like our native bamboo. It 
would make beautiful cases for rods, however. It 
may be, too, that bamboo from a locality which ex- 
poses the growing stalks to frequent bending in the 
wind will develop superior elasticity; and strips from 
the side of an individual stalk that was most exposed 
to the weather may have a preferable steely quality. 
Of the numerous varieties of the Indian bamboo, 
it would appear that the particular one known bo- 
tanically as Dendro calamus strictus would be the 
best for rod-making, though it has been stated fhat 
the Bamhusa arundinacea is the Calcutta cane often 
used for the purpose. The former is described as 
follows, by J. S. Gamble, in an article on the Bam- 
busea of British India, Annals of the Calcutta Bo- 
tanical Gardens, vol. 7, p. 79. We quote directly 
from a pamphlet issued by the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, captioned: "Seeds from a Bamboo 
from Calcutta, India, presented by Mr. WiUiam 
Bambower, Collins, Ohio " — 

A very useful and strong bamboo of India, formerly used uni- 
versally for spear shafts. The plant flowers frequently and does 
not die down after flowering as in the case with so many bam- 
boos. The culms are said to sometimes reach a height of one- 
hundred feet. This is the most common and most widely spread 
and most universally used of the Indian bamboos, and is commonly 
known as the " male " bamboo. Its culms are employed by the 
natives for all purposes of building and furniture, for mats, baskets, 
sticks, and other purposes. It furnishes, when large culms are 
procurable, the best material for lance shafts. In Burma, when 
large culms are obtainable, they are much in request for mats 
[masts?] for native boats. It flowers gregariously over large areas, 



BAMBOO AS A ROD MATERIAL 43 

as it did in the Central Provinces in 1865, but it may be found 
flowering sporadically, a few clumps at a time almost every year, 
in any locality, and such clumps then usually die off. These flow- 
erings, however, do not produce as much good seed as when the 
gregarious flowering takes place. The flowers appear in the cold 
season between November and April, the seed ripening in June. 
The leaves fall in February or March, and the young new ones 
appear in April. The young culms are rather. late, usually be- 
ginning to appear in July sometime after the rains begin. 

As compared with the Calcutta bamboo, the rind 
or compact enamel, outside layer of Tonkin cane is 
thicker and harder, the " wood " cuts yellower — 
not unlike a piece of miniature yellow pine — its 
fibers are coarser, and strips split from it have a 
stiffer elasticity. Of two rods of equal dimensions, 
that made of Calcutta cane will be a bit lighter in 
weight and more pliant — will have less " back- 
bone." In two other respects the Calcutta is easier 
to work: its softer, whiter fiber planes easier where 
the Tonkin requires more frequent sharpenings of 
the planing-iron, and the fibers also being finer (it 
makes a more hair-like brush on breaking) and less 
cohesive, it splits both truer and more readily. In 
two more-important respects the Tonkin cane is 
pleasanter to work: it is straighter, deflecting less 
from node to node; and the nodes themselves — 
both the partitions inside and the corresponding cir- 
cular ridges outside — are much less prominent and 
so less distorting to the symmetry of the stick and 
of strips split therefrom. Also, in this variety, de- 
pressions at the ridges, marking the site where fronds 



44 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

or leaves have dropped or been cut away, are rarely 
noticeable in the butts delivered by the bamboo 
dealer, whereas in the Calcutta sticks they always are 
found — and in an aggravated form due to the leaf 
being set deeper into the stalk — and render it im- 
possible to utilize in rod-making longitudinal strips 
split from their entire circumference. In other 
words, much of the Calcutta-bamboo stalk must be 
counted as waste material in building rods. 

In selecting bamboo butts, pick out those having 
a decidedly well-seasoned, clear yellow appearance 
rather than a greenish tinge, reject any showing burn- 
marks penetrating deeply into the fiber of the wall, 
and, other things being equal — as degree of sea- 
soning, especially — size for size, a stick having 
denser and thicker enamel will weigh heavier. 
Grayish stains may be the result of mildew. Well- 
seasoned hard-fibered stock will give out a clear ring 
when struck with a stick, quite different from the 
flat sound of green cane. 

Some fishing-tackle dealers have been reluctant in 
the past to supply stick bamboo to amateur rod- 
builders, but during more recent years many of them 
have very sensibly pursued a more farsighted policy. 
The writer has obtained perfectly satisfactory sound 
and well-seasoned Tonkin-bamboo butts from the 
Robert Ogilvie Company, 79 Chambers Street, New 
York City; J. Deltour, 11 12 Forest Avenue, Bronx, 
New York City; the Fred D. Divine Company, 



BAMBOO AS A ROD MATERIAL 45 

Utica, N. Y. ; James Heddon's Sons, Dowaglac, 
Mich.; and the T. H. Chubb Rod Company, Post 
Mills, Vt. From Abbey and Imbrie, 97 Chambers 
Street, New York City, he has procured both Tonkin 
and Calcutta cane. The average cost for six-foot 
sticks was about forty cents each. 

We will add that prominent dealers in anglers' 
supplies carry in stock split-bamboo rod-joints, glued 
up but unmounted, unwound, and unvarnished, for 
those who wish to repair or assemble rods, but who 
may hesitate to undertake the more complex work 
of actually building joints. The cost of the first- 
quality machine-made article of this description is 
about one dollar per joint; for handmade, from two 
to three dollars. The writer began his rod work 
by assembling, mounting, winding, and finishing such 
glued-up stock. In some cases it may be advisable 
to start in the game after this fashion, but the re- 
sultant satisfaction is not comparable with that ex- 
perienced by the angler who is the fond possessor of 
a set of rods which represents his own thought and 
handiwork from start to finish, which he knows ab- 
solutely to be composed throughout the entire length 
of each and every section of solid, tough fiber clear 
to the center, and who is independent of outside as- 
sistance in making repairs, even to the extent of con- 
structing new joints to replace such as may have 
suffered smash-ups. 

We regret to have to state that we have seen in 



46 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

one of the oldest and most reliable anglers' outfitting- 
shops, one of the most famous makes of bamboo rod, 
that had at one point in its circutnference four knots 
in line out of the six strip-sections. The price of 
that rod was thirty-five dollars. The novice will 
better appreciate the significance of this statement 
when he reads the ensuing chapter. Also, we have 
a friend who, accidentally smashing a joint of his 
" classy " split-bamboo, decided to take advantage 
of this opportunity to investigate and see just what 
value he had obtained for his thirty-odd dollars. 
Cross-sections of the joint at vari-ous points revealed 
a hole running through its center that would almost 
admit a steel knitting-needle. We fear that in some 
instances, with better facilities for manufacturing 
and with increased output, the American handmade 
split-bamboo has been bereft of intimate personal 
solicitude in the making, and in consequence has 
deteriorated in that quahty which once made the name 
invariably synonymous with " the best in the world." 



ROD-MAKING: 

SPLITTING OUT, STRAIGHTENING, 
AND ASSEMBLING THE STRIPS 



CHAPTER III 

ROD-MAKING : 

SPLITTING OUT, STRAIGHTENING, 

AND ASSEMBLING THE STRIPS 

That genius surely had an inspiration who first 
conceived the idea of constructing an angling-rod 
hexagonally, in longitudinal sections composed of 
glued and silken-bound triangular strips of the 
strongest, outer part only of the walls of bamboo- 
cane, thus achieving straight and practically solid 
joints, equally elastic and resistant in all directions, 
and of a hitherto unheard-of strength in comparison 
with their delicate caliber and astonishingly light 
weight. Kit Clarke, noted veteran angler and au- 
thor of Where the Wild Trout Hide, and who died 
only recently, in his eighty-fifth year, credits the in- 
vention to Sam Phillipi, a gunmaker of Easton, Pa., 
about the year 1862. 

But while the standard split-bamboo, as now 
known, is probably of American origin, the credit for 
the first rods made of actual rent cane-strips we have 
to admit belongs to England.^ The Phillipi rod- 

8 For the following data concerning the history of the " split-bamhoo " 
we are indebted to articles by Messrs. William Mitchell and Lawrence D. 

49 



50 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

joints were made in three longitudinal sections. 
About i860, E. A. Green of Newark, N. J., made 
up for the trade a few rods in four longitudinal sec- 
tions, followed in 1863 or 1864 by an acquaintance, 
a Mr. Murphy, also of Newark. Thaddeus Norris 
used one of these Phillipi, Green, or Murphy rods. 
The first rods in six bamboo sections were put on 
the American market by H. L. Leonard of Bangor, 
Me., about 1870, though Mr. Murphy claimed to 
have made one some time previously. 

William Mitchell says the first split-bamboo he 
ever saw or heard of was made by William Blacker, 
of 54, Dean Street, Soho, London, to order for Mr. 
James Stevens, the well-known sportsman of Ho- 
boken, N. J., and that in 1852 it was given to him 
for repairs and alterations. Blacker was the author 
of Fly Making and Angling, London, 1855, and he 
says on page 82 : " The rent and glued-up bamboo- 
cane rods, which I turn out to the greatest perfection 
[and thus we see where all the modern makers ob- 
tained their literary cue], are very valuable, as they 
are very light and powerful, and throw the line with 
great facihty." 

Thomas Aldred, of London, claimed to be the 
inventor of the three-section or -strip glued-up bam- 
boo rod, at some date prior to the Crystal Palace 

Alexander, appearing in vol. II of Sport with Gun and Rod, published by 
The Century Co., in 1883, though their original source is The American 
Angler. Mr. Mitchell himself first made a split-cane rod, in four longi- 
tudinal sections of Chinese bamboo, " which is much harder and more 
homogeneous," in June, 1869. 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 51 

Exhibition, in 185 1, at whicli Ainge and Aldred, 
J. Bernard, and J. K. Farlow exhibited the imple- 
ment. The Aldred firm showed their rod also at the 
Exhibition in 1853, at New York. All these rods 
were of three longitudinal sections, running the whole 
length of the cane, and not in strips glued up with 
staggered knots. In 1856 there was printed in Lon- 
don an edition of Walton's Compleat Angler, with 
notes on fishing-tackle by the publisher, Henry C. 
Bohn. On page 325 he says: "The split or 
glued-up rod is difficult to make well, and very ex- 
pensive. It is made of three pieces of split cane, 
which some say should have the bark inside, some 
outside, nicely rounded." 

In the first edition of his Handbook of Angling, 
London, 1847, Edward Fitzgibbon quotes Mr. Lit- 
tle, of 15, Fetter Lane, rod-maker to His Royal 
Highness Prince Albert, and speaking of the top- 
and middle-joints of a salmon rod, as follows: 
'- They are to be made from the stoutest pieces of 
bamboo-cane, called ' jungle,' and brought from 
India. The pieces should be large and straight, so 
that you can rend them well through knots and all. 
Each joint should consist of three rent pieces, . . . 
and afterward glued together, knot opposite to knot 
. . but the best part opposite to that which may be 
imperfect, so as to equalize defectiveness and good- 
ness. The natural badness of the cane you counter- 
act by art, and none save a clever workman can do 



52 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

it. . . . If the pieces are skilfully glued together, 
they will require no redressing, except at the corners, 
to bring the rod from the three-square to the round 
shape. I am prepared to prove that there are not 
more than three men in London capable of making, 
perfectly, rods of solid cane, rent, glued, and then 
correctly finished with the bark lying on the outside." 
Mr. Fitzgibbon himself adds : *' In my opinion, 
rods . . . made entirely of rent and glued jungle- 
cane are the best. They must be most carefully 
fashioned, and no maker can turn them out without 
charging a high price. I am also of opinion that 
they will last longer than any other sort of rod, and 
are far less liable to warping. I have a high opin- 
ion of their elasticity, and Mr. Bowness, fishing- 
tackle maker of No. 12, Bellyard, Temple Bar, 
showed me once a trout fly-rod, made in this, my 
favorite way, that had been for many years in use 
and was still straight as a wand. I never saw a bet- 
ter single-handed rod." After this discerning com- 
ment, it arouses one's curiosity to note that in the 
second edition of his book, published only a year 
later (1848), "Ephemera" writes: "I have 
changed my opinion with respect to rods made en- 
tirely of rent cane or any other wood rent. Their 
defects will always more than counterbalance their 
merits." 

Allowing therefore a reasonable interpretation to 
the expression " for many years," this would seem 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 53 




to show indisputably that rods of " rent jungle 
cane " were made as far back as 1830-40. 

The accompanying cross- 
section diagrams will at 
once make clear exactly 
what part of the bamboo- 
stick is used, and how the 
strips so split out and cut 
down to form are combined 
in the completed individual 

joints or sections of a mod- a — Cross-section of bamboo stalk 
prn rrtt^ ^ — Rough-split rectangular strip 

cm rOU. C— Split strip planed to triangu- 

It is to be understood '^' ^°'''" 
that each individual strip of a joint is in cross-sec- 
tion an equilateral triangle, except for the slight 
convexity of its outer surface which remains un- 
touched by the cutting-tool; that each strip has a 
definite taper from its butt to the top 
end; and that each joint throughout 
the whole symmetrically-tapered 
rod, from the rod's butt of one-half 
inch, more or less, in diameter to its 
delicate tip of a scant one-sixteenth inch or little more 
in thickness, is composed of six of these exactly 
similar strips. The uninitiated on being shown, 
with this explanation, the top-joint of an eight- to 
nine-foot fly-rod weighing, complete, from four to 
five ounces, and easily capable of bringing to the 
landing-net a five-pound streak of lightning scien- 




Cross-section of com 
pleted (glued) rod 
joint 



54 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

tifically designated Salvelinus fontinalis, are very 
likely to be incited to that somewhat trite though 
unctiously satisfactory retort, "You 're a liar 1 " 
Yet 't is even so. And now it becomes the writer's 
great pleasure to descend to brass tacks and explain 
in detail how this miracle is wrought. 

Having acquired his cherished sticks from the 
nearest available source, the prospective engineer 
and constructer conveys them homeward with a pal- 
pitating heart. Other tremors of that same cardiac 
organ are due to occur ere his delightful and fear- 
some task is completed. True to advice, he has se- 
lected well-seasoned stock having a good depth of 
enamel, but he will see to it that his material has 
further opportunity to ripen well before he makes 
use of the completed rod. To this end he will be- 
gin immediately by splitting his sticks lengthwise into 
quarters, thus breaking through all partitions at the 
nodes and admitting the air freely to the pith side 
of the bamboo tube. Remember this is Winter, and 
that many weeks are to elapse before the advent of 
the blithesome Springtime — so there is no hurry. 
Do not start this job if you are obsessed with any 
idea of haste. Not that after a short time you will 
be unable to turn out rods with a very respectable 
alacrity; but do not fail to begin under the beneficent 
influence of the feeling of abundant leisure for your 
project. 

After the sticks have been quartered you may pro- 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 55 

ceed to split out rectangular strips roughly approxi- 
mating the final size required for use in individual 
joints. These also may stand aside in a dry place, 
and season some more. The degree of seasoning 
and elasticity may be tested by bending a slender 
piece sharply between the hands and noting how 
quickly and completely it regains its former lines 
upon releasing one end. You also may test the sur- 
plus ends of strips, in selecting those for use, by 
bending them until they break. The harder it is 
to break them and the longer the splintering frac- 
ture, the better the material is suited to your pur- 
pose. Then, after planing the strips down to final 
dimensions and collating them into their respective 
joints, temporarily bound with coarse thread, they 
may well season some more. After the joints are 
glued up they will not be hurt by a little more laying 
aside and additional seasoning before varnishing; 
and after the rod has received its last finishing- 
touches, is jointed and hung up by its tip — well, it 
really is all the better if it be let hang to season some 
more, before putting it to use. 

Professional makers prefer that a finished high- 
grade rod shall have several months' rest before 
reaching the hands of the angler, and some even 
allow their glued-up joints to season a whole year 
before assembling and mounting them into rods. 

But now to our mutton, that is, our splitting. To 
be sure, splitting is splitting, planing is planing, glu- 



56 - THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

ing is gluing, winding is winding, and varnishing is 
varnishing; but most emphatically there are ways, 
and other ways, of attempting each and all of these 
things — do we not know it ! If desirous of get- 
ting into trouble " right off the reel," take an or- 
dinary jack-knife and a quarter-section of Tonkin 
cane and, drawing toward you, just split off nicely 
and evenly say a three-eighths-inch approximately 
rectangular strip from its edge — just " free and 
easy like." Try it and see where you arrive. 

But bamboo, either Calcutta or Tonkin, may be 
split very easily and true, and here is the way to do 
it. If the reader can improve upon the method or 
any of the other technic carefully detailed in this 
book, as later he may, well and good; but take the 
advice that for the beginner in split-bamboo rod- 
building, implicit conformity to the instructions of 
one who has been there spells immunity from the 
devil of discouragement and failure and hence is al- 
together the better part of valor. This dose of 
preventive medicine should suffice. 

Procure from the hardware store a solid-blade 
better grade knife of the kitchen utility style. The 
illustration conveys the idea, and the cost will be 
twenty-five or thirty cents; or a cheap steel-blade 
table-knife, such as you find in the ten-cent stores, 
will serve. With the butt-end of the bamboo-stick 
on the floor — and yourself mounted on a chair or 
a box — place the knife-blade across the middle of 




I — Halving stalks 2 — Corrective bending over alcohol lamp 




Tonkin and Calcutta bamboo stalks (at left) 

Splintered strips of Tonkin and Calcutta cane (top) 

Outside of section of stalk with ridges filed away; inside ot 
section showing remains of partitions; same with parti' 
tions cut away; and six narrow rent strips (lower right) 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 57 

the upper end and hit it squarely with a hammer, 
splitting the cane in halves down to the first node. 
Now push the knife down into contact with the par- 
tition at this node and with a similar blow cut 
through that. Next, seize each split-off half-por- 
tion between thumb and finger and pull them apart. 
This will split the stick evenly down to the second 
node. Cut through this as before, again pull the 
halves apart, and so continue until the whole length 
of the cane is divided. With Calcutta bamboo, 
halve it through the depressions where the leaves 
were attached, which are on opposite sides at al- 
ternate nodes. 

The same operation repeated will divide your 
halves evenly into quarters, when you now set about 
removing the outside ridges and the parts of the 
partitions from the strips. For the ridges, the ef- 
fective tool is a medium-coarse cross-hatched file 
(not a mill-saw file, which will not take hold) ; and 



Cross-hatched file 



you should file straight across, at right-angles to the 
strip (not draw-filing, sideways), which is conveni- 
ently held for the purpose, convex side up, between 
the jaws of an iron vise. Having filed all the ridges 
level with the surface of the adjacent wood, you now 



58 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

may place your quarter-section strips concave or 
pith side up in the vise, to remove the partitions 
with gouge and hammer, flush with the inner sur- 
face. The strips will now appear as shown. 

Another effective way of breaking the halves into 
quarters, is first to remove the ridges and partitions, 
then to place the pieces between the vise-jaws, hori- 
zontally on the flat, and screw up the vise till the 
bamboo cracks. 

Of course the worker must have a workbench, 
which need not be over six-feet long, with a level 
top not less than fifteen-inches wide, and it is import- 
ant that it be so situated that operations may be con- 
ducted in a good light; and as to the vise, he will 
find that one of cast-steel, with four-inch jaws hav- 
ing hardened faces, will serve nicely, as well as for 
all other purposes of household carpentry and re- 
pairing. (Don't suppose for a moment that you 
are going to manufacture " fishing-poles " in the 
house with impunity and balk at mending a broken 
chair, or at some other little odd-job that wifey jogs 
you about.) Such a vise will cost from three to 
four dollars as against the six or eight dollars asked 
for one of forged steel; and it will fulfill all the func- 
tions of the more expensive tool excepting for such 
heroic work as bending a stiff piece of iron held in 
the jaws, by striking it against the side with ^ heavy 
hammer. 

Our quarter-sections of cane are now ready for 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 59 

further splitting Into approximately square or rec- 
tangular strips just a bit thicker than actually needed 
just before trimming them down to their final form, 
ready for gluing up Into rod-joints. 

We go about this second splitting somewhat dif- 
ferently. The section to be split into these narrower 
strips Is laid upon Its back, convex side against the 
bench. The knife now is held with its length length- 
wise of the strip, the point of the blade being placed 
against the Inner surface at the knots or remains of 
the nodes, as It receives the blow of the hammer. 
Thus we now are splitting on the flat, from within 
outward, and not endwise of the wood as before. 
Begin at the top and split successively at each knot, 
moving toward the bottom end of the strip. After 
the hammer-blow has sunk the knife-blade through 
the knot, give the knife a sudden side-prying wrench, 
which extends the split for some distance both ways 
from the knot. When all the knots have thus been 
spht through, take hold of the top of the narrow 
strip to be rent off and complete Its separation by 
smartly pulling it away. 

In assembling the strips to be used in Individual 
rod-joints,^ It is necessary that most of them be cut 
some inches longer than the intended length of the 
completed joint, for the reason that some of the 
bamboo necessarily is sacrificed in the next process, 

4 The word "joint" may signify either an individual rod-section, the 
ferrule connection, the knot at site of a node in the bamboo, or the node 
itself. 



6o THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

which Is known as " slipping the joints " or knots. 
This means simply that at no circumference of the 
completed joint should knots be found opposite to 
each other; thus every weak spot, as indicated by the 
situation of a knot, is supported by solid, long-fibered 
enamel all the way around the remainder of the rod 
at this point. This staggered construction Is the 
American usual and preferable practise, although we 
know of one of the most famed of British makers 
who systematically puts three knots In line but on 
alternate faces of his joints. Probably he thinks 
that a more subtly harmonious action of the rod 
is thereby achieved. 

The arrangement of the six narrow strips of a 
prospective joint, properly assembled preparatory to 
being trimmed to length, will be something like that 
shown in the Illustration. Insomuch as these nodes 





^f~ 






-TIT 












-■ iniiri 1 






























*, 






■^ 






<v 


l/lll v» II 






l_. 




*« 






*h 










«»^ ,111 1 1 




















































// 1 I 






c 






♦ 

















Slipping or staggering the knots 

in bamboo are situated varying distances apart, and 
even in the individual stems — they are closer to- 
ward the butt end of the cane — two strips split 
from parallel parts of one stalk, and one being 
turned end for end and thus laid up against its mate, 
will have their knots mismatched or staggered; and 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 6i 

without demanding here any sacrifice of bamboo in 
order to accomplish this result, so far as the relation, 
one to the other, of just these two individual strips 
is concerned. 

The concave or pith surface of each strip Is now 
planed just sufficiently to flatten them, after which 
their sides are planed only enough to make them 
smooth. For all planing, the five-and-one-half inch 
"Stanley" iron-plane, number 103, and costing 
about fifty cents, will do nicely. 

The worker has by now observed this peculiarity 
In his bamboo-strips — that most of them are far 
from straight, and that their zigzag course is due 
mainly to angular deflections at the knots. They 
may run fairly straight between knots, but at a knot 
are likely to be markedly diverted. Our diagram 
Is an illustration of what is meant. In addition to 



Angular deflections in stalks (and in split strips) of bamboo-cane 

these angular bends, long curves are present, run- 
ning in all directions. Thus, as we sight along the 
strips, In some of which these irregularities are much 
aggravated, it would seem to be a hopeless proposi- 
tion that they ever could be fashioned into a straight 
rod-joint. — But they can, and herein lies one of the 
most fascinating elements of the work. 

This brings us to the consideration of another very 



62 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

interesting and characteristic feature of bamboo, 
namely, its action under the local application of a 
considerable degree of dry heat. (It was this one 
point that proved the " open sesame " to satisfactory 
results in rod construction for the writer, and he was 
enabled, in return, to tell the friend who told him, 
about a point in gluing-up that also " straightened 
out " things for the friend. Until we consulted one 
another on these two matters each had been dis- 
satisfied with his handiwork.) Upon holding the 
strip over — but not in — a gas- or oil-lamp flame, 
turning it the while to and fro between the fingers 
to expose all sides, a point is quickly reached, short 
of charring deeply enough to cause permanent in- 
jury, where the fibers become so softened and pliable 
that all angles and sudden bends are easily straight- 
ened out by cautious but firm manipulation between 
the hands; or the hot strip may be clamped straight 
in your vise. Immediately on cooling, the wood is 
again hardy rigid, and elastic. Professional rod- 
makers place the strips in a steam-box. 

In this straightening, only abrupt deviations — 
whether curved or angular — need to be remedied, 
but it is imperative that all such should now receive 
careful attention, else later they will prevent the 
strips from lying flat under pressure of the plane, 
in the V-groove of the planing-mold, when cutting 
them down to their ultimate triangular form. All 
long, sweeping curves may be disregarded; these will 



I 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 63 

lie flat under pressure, and largely nullify each other 
when six of the strips come to be bound up together. 
Also, it will be seen that further and very effective 
opportunity for straightening the whole joint pre- 
sents itself when the strips are glued up. 

In straightening over the flame, some considerable 
charring of the woody fibre on the sides of the strip 
excepting its enameled surface need not worry the 
novice, as all this will plane away in the reduction to 
final form — and this is why we left the rectangular 
strips somewhat larger than apparently was neces- 
sary; but you should take good care that this outer 
or rind surface is least directly exposed to the heat 
and so is not injured, and you do not want the rec- 
tangular strips left excessively large, else they will 
not bend so readily when heated as there is more 
wood for the heat to penetrate thoroughly. 

Occasionally the sudden deflection is compound 
instead of simple ; then It first should be reduced to 
a simple deflection and straightened afterward, as 
shown in the Illustration (i, before remedying; 2, 
first bending; 3, direction of final bending). And 
here we should state that concerning the deviations 




Compound lateral bend (both angular and curved deflections), viewed from 
rind side of strip 



64 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

already noted — mostly they are angular and at the 
knots — we have had In mind lateral or sidewise 
deflections. Another condition of things may exist 
— generally adjacent to or between knots — ver- 
tically with relation to the enamel surface; they are 
sudden bumps or depressions, and the direction of 
the corrective bending for these then is determined 
according to whether they are upward or downward 
deflections. 

Our strips now are fairly rectangular, and quite 
straight, at least as regards any aggravated or sud- 
den bends. Here we again go over the knots with 
the file, further to modify any bumpiness at these 
points, when the strips are now ready for planing. 
It is well, first, to mark the strips at their butt ends 
and on the rind side, to indicate any preferable ar- 
rangement as to the order in which they shall be 
glued up, using the modified numerals, I, II, III, IIII, 
mil, mill. These you always can decipher 
despite any subsequent cutting away, either at the 
top or bottom, in planing. 

A word as to the actual significance of split vs. 
sawed strips will conclude this chapter. As already 
stated, the straightness of bamboo varies greatly. 
Some sticks may be so straight that it really would 
make very little difference either in the strength or 
action of a rod made therefrom, as to whether the 
rod were built from hand-rent or machine-sawed 
strips. But whereas in split strips the woody fibers 



SPLITTING OUT AND ASSEMBLING 65 

or grain perforce must run parallel with the sides 
of the strip throughout its length, in the sawed strips 
you can have anything from astonishingly good to 
atrociously bad results. Of course machine sawing 
saves much labor, and hence is cheaper. If you 
have a very narrow strip that has been split out, so 
that you know its grain runs properly, there is no 
reason why you should not use a fine saw if you want 
to rip it lengthwise exactly through the middle, into 
two still slenderer strips, without risking an attempt 
at splitting, when you have no margin to spare. In 
short, from a strip that first has been split out from 
the stalk, another strip sawed out parallel to the 
edge of the first is every whit as good as one rent 
from it. In such sawing, place the strip, rind upper- 
most, obliquely in the vise, with the end projecting 
only a little above it, and saw not more than two or 
three inches at a time, the saw running between the 
jaws; then shift the strip above the vise two or 
three inches more, and so continue, sawing and shift- 
ing, little by little, until it is wholly divided. 

The reader may judge for himself about how 
much of detailed care, in seasoning, selection, and 
utilization of material, is represented in a $2.75 
department-store rod that is turned out in lots by 
the hundred; and yet the writer knows of one such 
that weathered a Nipigon campaign with flying 
colors. Our illustration suggests how great may be 



66 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 




A — Sawed strip B — Split oi rent strip 

the difference in the grain of two strips, one of 
which has been sawed by machine and the other one 
split or rent out of a stick by hand in the manner 
described and which alone guarantees the best re- 
sults. 



ROD-MAKING: 
PLANING THE STRIPS 



CHAPTER IV 

ROD-MAKING: 
PLANING THE STRIPS 

It must be evident to anyone that In reducing 
roughly-squared strips of bamboo to the equilateral- 
triangular form and definitely-graduated taper re- 
quired for their incorporation Into symmetrical rod- 
joints, some kind of grooved form or mold Is neces- 
sary for holding the strips securely and guiding the 
cutting exactly. Such devices have been various. 
They frequently are made of close-grained hard 
wood such as llgnum-vltae, beech, or maple. The 
planlng-board of the professional manufacturer may 
be of brass. 

You do not require any mold for the initial plan- 
ing operations, already noted as consisting — after 
a mere leveling of the pith surface — simply in 
smoothing the split sides of each strip, where It was 
rent away from the parent stalk. For further pre- 
liminary planing and tapering, the author still makes 
use of the wooden mold, acceptably and quickly con- 
structed, for this work, of any soft wood such as pine 
or cypress; but he never succeeded In turning out 
joints of satisfactory excellence until he adopted a 
steel mold or planlng-board for the last, fine planlng- 

69 



70 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

down of the strips to their ultimate dimensions. 
Thus far the most unfavorable criticism upon this 
device by discerning angler friends was offered after 
this fashion: " Say, the joints that that thing turns 
out are too good; no one will believe they are hand- 
made, and by an amateur." 

This steel mold is adjustable for the full length 
and varying calibers of the joints of any rod, from 
one having a diameter up to one inch or more at 
the extreme butt, if so desired, and a width at the 
tip of anything from a scant one-sixteenth of an inch 
upward. Also, the mold being made in independent 
halves, of not excessive rigidity, it may either be 
sprung apart or compressed along the middle — the 
ends first being secured — to produce a joint having 
either a convex or concave taper; or with It you may 
turn out simple straight-tapered joints or those hav- 
ing double or combined straight tapers. All this 
will be made clear as we proceed. 

In employing full-length wooden molds, the usual 
custom Is to construct a separate one for each indi- 
vidual joint and duplicates — butt, middle-joint, and 
top — of certain definite dimensions. Such a pro- 
cedure involves not only the extra work of making 
three distinct molds for each rod of a given caliber 
and taper, but in our experience It is far from satis- 
factory In that to avoid destroying the surface of 
the mold In the last planing, the strip surfaces — 
after planing them to close approximation — must 



i 



PLANING THE STRIPS 71 

be finished by filing; and it is very difficult to prevent 
the wearing down of the mold even in the most care- 
ful cross-filing. Such distortion of its originally 
even surface produces hollow places in the sides of 
the rod-strips, and consequently in the resultant rod- 
joints, and to a more aggravated degree as each suc- 
ceeding strip leaves the mold. Wooden molds are 
further deficient in accuracy, as compared with steel 
molds, because the edges and angles of a wooden 
groove are less sharply defined than is possible with 
steel. 

We will give sufficient details, however, of a com- 
mon way of constructing wooden molds, both be- 
cause we make a preliminary use of such a mold — 
which can thus serve us in the building of many rods 
of entirely different dimensions — and in order that 
the reader may judge how much simpler and more 
efficient is the process that the author personally uses 
and commends. 

The triangles composing a hexagonal rod-section 
are equilateral triangles; such triangles have angles 
of 60 degrees, and three of them make just half of 
the section, comprising 180 degrees, as there are 360 
degrees in a circle. It therefore is apparent that we 
must plane down our strips flush with the face of a 
groove having an angle of 60 degrees. 

Only the split faces of each strip are cut down, 
and these by bringing them uppermost in alternation. 
The rind or enamel surface lies always against one 



72 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

or the other side of the groove and it remains un- 
touched by the plane. The sketch below, of the 
wooden double mold, will make this clear if the text 
does not. 

This is the way that some build the groove for 
the full-length mold of wood. It is made by fasten- 
ing together two strips, of say % inch by i^ inches 
and 3% to 4 feet long, which strips have had the 
proper bevel cut along the upper edges of their ad- 
joining sides. The diagram shows how this bevel 




A — Mold strip 
B — Plane 
C — Guiding-strip 
D — Brace 



Pattern for planing-rig: 



E — Baseboard 
FF — Wedges in wedging 
space 



may be cut accurately, by means of a plane, rectan- 
gular on cross-section, and which is slid along a 
guiding-strip that holds it tipped laterally at the 
proper angle. A pattern for this rig is easily made 
in full size by first drawing the mold-strip cross-sec- 
tion, A; next, getting the inclination of the bottom 
of the plane (B) by means of an equilateral triangle 



PLANING THE STRIPS 73 

(dotted lines) ; then drawing at a right-angle to 
this the line (C) which represents the correct incli- 
nation of the guiding-strip. 

The groove of such a mold is at first of a uniform 
depth throughout its length. To make of it a 
tapered groove, it remains but to plane down the 
face of the mold to whatever tapering depth is de- 
sired, bearing in mind that the width of the finished 
groove at any point — and consequently of a sur- 
face of the bamboo-strip that will just fill the groove 
at the same point — is just one-half the diameter of 
the completed rod-joint at the corresponding point, 
provided that we measure the rod's diameter from 
angle to angle of its hexagonal section, and not be- 
tween opposite flat surfaces. To put it in another 
way, the half of a six-strip rod-joint that has been 
divided lengthwise presents an inside plane surface 
composed of only two adjoining surfaces, laid up 
edge to edge. Hence, for the sake of convenience 



Lateral half of a hexagonal rod-joint 

and clarity, we will after this speak of the diameter 
from angle to angle whenever referring to rod 
calibers, unless specifically designated otherwise. 

This planing of the mold's grooved surface to 
taper is best done with a long plane that the car- 



74 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

penter calls a fore-plane, and such surface should 
be carefully tested lengthwise with a straight-edge 
and crosswise with a try-square. 

But the writer has a much simpler method than 
all this, of making wooden molds for all that he re- 
quires of them. Indeed they need only approximate 
accuracy; yet it is easy enough to have the angle of 
the groove true. Furthermore, they may be only 
from six inches to a foot in length, the strips being 
shifted along when planing them. 

The reader is now introduced to the very conven- 
ient little tool called a center-gauge. You see that 
it has one pointed end and several notches, all their 
angles being 60 degrees. This may be obtained 




The indispensable little center-gauge 

from the larger hardware stores, either untempered 
or of tempered steel; you want the latter, and it will 
cost about twenty-five cents. Time ^d again you 
will find it handy for testing angles. Take your two 
strips of any soft wood and plane one edge of each 
approximately to the required bevel — just free- 
hand. Place the strips side by side, the bevels fac- 
ing, and test them with the point of the center-gauge. 



PLANING THE STRIPS 



75 



Correct, as needed, by additional planing and test- 
ing, until the bevels and the groove they form are 
fairly accurate ; then, to make the groove absolutely 
correct, use your tempered center-gauge as a scraper, 
holding the tool vertically as you draw the point 
lengthwise of the strips, which are paralleled but 
kept slightly separated. Now nail the beveled strips 
together and your mold is ready for use. 

It will be found an added convenience if you make 
a double mold, by utilizing opposite surfaces of the 
same strips, one groove running from about /4-inch 
deep at the large end to Viq at the 
small end, and the other being 
slightly shallower. The grain of 
the wood had better run vertically, 
as sketched. 

Thus far the only planing of our 
bamboo-strips consisted in cutting 
off the pith from the inner, con- 
cave side to a flat surface and the mere smoothing 
of the split edges; and this preferably is done as ad- 
vised, that is previous to heating and straightening 
them. The first process in actual reduction to the 
triangular form wanted — and one that facilitates 
matters when we come to make use 
of the V-groove — is to lay the 
., , strips on their sides and plane away 

Beveling one side of "^ . ^• i 

strip freehand some morc from their split races. 
As you do this, tilt the plane sideways, but only a 




Wood mold with two 
grooves 



76 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

little, so as to make the strips narrower on the in- 
side (pith side). We then place the strip in one or 
the other of our wooden grooves — most appropri- 
ate as determined by the size of the joint under con- 
struction — with this smooth beveled edge and the 
enamel surface lying against their respective sides 
of the groove, and proceed to cut down the other 
side to a surface parallel with the face of the mold. 
Plane a little first on one, then on the other of these 
split sides of the strip, alternately, until the strip 
very nearly fits flush, with Its enamel side up, into 
this wooden groove, which is larger than the steel 
groove that you will make use of for the final dress- 
ing-down. 

Before you reach this stage. It will however be- 
come necessary to adopt some method both of hold- 
ing the strip while planing and of guarding against 
cutting your fingers with the razor-like edges which 
bamboo presents when cut to triangular form; for 
no other holding device can compare either In sim- 
plicity or efficiency with the thumb and finger of one 
hand. But if these are unprotected, as the plane 
takes a firmer bite occasionally, the strip will be 
pulled or pushed between the fingers and a deep and 
painful cut will result, which though it may heal 
readily enough, still it interferes with business. The 
edges are sharp enough to make a clean cut even 
though the heavy leather of an old walking-glove, 
which the writer uses on his left or holding hand; 



PLANING THE STRIPS 77 

but if you wind a few turns of a one-inch gauze roller- 
bandage around the last joints of the thumb and 
forefinger of that hand before donning the glove, 
then you are safe and may plane away fearlessly; or 
a heavy canvas working-glove of the ten-cent-store 
species may be used. 

The first planing may be done with short, rapid, 
overlapping strokes and with the planing-iron set 
rather coarse, so that it will cut comparatively short 
and thick shavings; but as you approach closely to 
the surface of your steel mold, the blade is set fine 
and each stroke should be continuous from the butt 
to the smaller end of the strip; there should be an 
even, heavy pressure on the plane, and it should be 
pushed ahead with slow deliberation. This last cau- 
tion is all-important when planing the slender strips 
of delicate fly-rod top-joints, running from less than 
one-sixteenth inch in diameter at their butt-ends to 
one-thirty-secondth at their tips. There must be no 
backing up here, no lifting of the plane from the 
strip from start to finish of the stroke, as such a 
maneuver is likely to cause buckling and breakage of 
the strip. And with all planing the general rule 
should be regarded that applies to most cutting 
tools, to cut with the planing-blade held a little 
obliquely. Also see that the position of the planing- 
hand is not such as to obstruct the free ejection of 
shavings from the plane. 

Early change in the position of the holding-hand, 




78 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

so soon as the stroke is fully started — as illustrated 
in Figures i and 2 — is likewise an important cau- 
tion to be heeded in the planing of bamboo-strips, 
especially for light tops. But if the accident of 
buckling and fracture should occur, the whole strip 
is not necessarily ruined for use; if cut off and pieced 
out with a separate section, at exactly the point 
where a line-guide is subse- 
quently to he placed, such 
splinting with the guide will 
A — Point where strips join sufficiently rcinforce it at this 

end to end, and guide , . •111 

serving as splint pomt SO that there Will be no 

perceptible weakness of the completed joint, as re- 
gards either action or durability. 

The holding-hand, in the first position shown, 
must be only a few inches in advance of the plane, 
and it is shifted forward for subsequent strokes, as 
the plane closely approaches It. The strip under 
the plane is pushed against the hand so held. As 
the second or slenderer half of the strip is planed, 
the holding-hand is shifted to the second position, 
behind the plane ; and the thumb and forefinger hold- 
ing the end of the strip, which now is Ufted from 
the groove, prevent the strip from being pulled 
ahead; and the finishing-stroke, on the smaller half, 
is a continuous one. 

Another point in the technic here, is that of the 
direction of the pressure imparted by the holding- 
hand's thumb and fingers. With the plane behind 




Fig. I 




Fig. 2 



-!-■? 



Planing the Strips: Fig. i — First position; 
Fig. 2 — Second position 



PLANING THE STRIPS 79 

this hand on starting to go over the strip, they should 
press the strip down into the groove and at the same 
time either to the right or left — a lateral pushing 
or pulling — in order to force the rind side of the 
bamboo firmly against its side of the groove^ and to 
hold it there and prevent its tilting away. When 
the holding-hand is shifted to the second position, 
the fingers twist the strip toward one or the other 
side to accomplish the same end. Once again, heed 
the caution always to plane with the planers face 
parallel to the mold's surface — not dropped either 
to the right or left. 

If the above cautions be not observed, the result 
will be a strip that is irregularly triangular on cross- 
section, with one planed surface wider than the 
other, as illustrated, instead of being symmetrical, 
as indicated by the dotted line in the pic- 
ture. To prevent a strip's thus " going 
oft " lopsidedly, remember in your planing Lopsided strip 
of sides alternatingly that it is principally 
the narrower surface which requires correction In 
order to even up the cross-section ; so make frequent 
observations of your work with this in mind. The 
endeavor should be made to have the triangular sec- 
tion equilateral early in the planing and to keep it 
so, rather than to permit of carelessness at first with 
the intention of remedying the matter later. This 
will save the amateur rod-builder much tribulation, 
as it is one of the most vital points, it being of course 



8o THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

Impossible to make symmetrical hexagonal rod-joints 
out of finished strips of irregular section. 

It sometimes is convenient to correct this going 
off from the true equilateral form, by again using 
your center-gauge as a scraper. Fasten it upright 
in the vise this time, and draw the defective strip 
through its notched end, with pressure so regulated 
that the scraping is done principally against the nar- 
rowed side of the strip; this widens the narrow side 
and at the same time narrows the side that is too 
wide. V-notched truing-scrapers are easily made by 
notching the edge of any piece of saw steel — as a 
cabinet-makers' scraper, selling for ten cents — by 
means of the common triangular-section saw-sharp- 
ening file, which has angles of the required sixty de- 
grees. However, if due attention is had to the 
warnings already given, such corrective scraping 
rarely becomes necessary. 

As previously instructed, the planing-iron is set 
very fine, so as to cut the thinnest possible shaving, 
for the ultimate planing-down; and a few short, light 
final strokes are permissible over those places felt 
to be still high, as tested by drawing the finger deH- 
cately across the strip and the face of the mold. 
The smallest Stanley plane, about three Inches long, 
is very nice for this work. Keep the plane well 
sharpened by frequent resort to the oilstone. A 
few drops of thin oil placed occasionally on the metal 



PLANING THE STRIPS 8i 

surface of the mold are helpful after the planlng- 
iron begins to hug It closely. 

The writer has found It sufficient for the produc- 
tion of accurate joints, to finish his strips entirely 
with the plane, except perhaps In the case of tops 
for the lighter fly-rods. He finishes these by scrap- 
ing them lengthwise with discarded safety-razor 
blades, an ordinary razor-blade removed from its 
handle, a scissors blade, chisel, planing-Iron, or a 
common jack-knife. Of file or sand-paper he makes 
no use at this stage of the work. In making his 
lighter top-joints, he very carefully takes off just the 
feather-edge at the junction of the inner sides of the 
strips, so that there shall be no question about their 
pushing home at the center of the joint when glu- 
ing up; for this delicate work the safety-razor blade 
is just the thing. 

It now is time for the details of the metal plan- 
ing- or finishing-mold itself, and the manner of 
its adjustment for getting out joints of the definite 
length and taper desired for the rod that it is deter- 
mined upon to build. This is very simply con- 
structed of two four-foot bars of '%-inch cold-rolled 
steel, and it can be made at any machine-shop at mod- 
erate expense. The illustrations herewith will fully 
explain exactly what is wanted, and the machinist 
must be cautioned that the beveled edges must he 
absolutely true, in order correctly to form our sixty- 



82 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



^T^£/. 3^K 













scnef 



tVoo^SA/ ^ASe^o/i7i2> 



Fig. 



•End view of author's adjustable steel planing-mold (reduced 
one-half) 



degree-angled groove when the bars are brought to- 
gether side by side. But soon you will see that they 
are kept slightly apart in actual use, as our taper is 
obtained by the beautifully easy stunt of spreading 
the separate halves of our mold obliquely and pre- 
cisely to the minute fraction of an inch required. 
The center-gauge will attest the mold's accuracy. 

The four edges of each of our square steel bars 
are cut off, then, to a bevel of the same inclination, 
as above stated, but presenting faces of varying 
widths, respectively as follows: Vz2, %6, %, and %6 
of an inch. The bars are held in any degree and 
position of separation wanted, by means of right- 
angled braces, secured by appropriate screws to their 
respective bars, and the whole is fastened to a base 
of any well-seasoned wood plank about six inches 
in width, one inch thick, and having an unwarped 
surface. The short or upright arm of the braces Is 
% of an inch long; the long or horizontal arm is one 



PLANING THE STRIPS 83 

inch ; and they are one-Inch wide. Machine-screws, 
%6 inch in diameter and with rounding heads, secure 
the bar-arms of the braces to the bars. The longer 
arms are fastened to the wooden baseboard by one- 
inch wood-screws having rounded heads, and small 
iron washers are used under their heads. The holes 
in both arms of the braces are made larger than 
needed merely to accommodate the screws, to per- 
mit of considerable play and consequent separation 
of the halves of the mold. If desiring still more to 
increase this range of side-play of the bars, you can 
enlarge the screw holes in the long arms of the 
braces by filing them out with a small rat-tail file, 
thus converting these round holes into slots. Five 
pairs of braces, centered 10% inches apart, are used; 
and note, as shown in the Fig. 2 illustration of the 
mold, that it will be an added convenience in adjust- 
ing it to have the screws that secure the long arms 
set to one side of those fastening the short arms, 
instead of having the two sets of screws line up 
opposite ; thus they will not interfere with each other. 
The whole arrangement is at once understood by 
reference to the diagrammatic illustrations. Fig. i 
representing a sectional or end view, and Fig. 2 
being a top view of the mold. It remains but to ex- 
plain its adjustment. Suppose, for example, it is 
desired to make a butt-joint 3^ feet long, having a 
diameter of % inch at its larger end and of % inch 
at its smaller end — measuring, please remember, 



84 thp: idyl of the split-bamboo 

from angle to angle. Marks on the baseboard, at 
A and B in Fig. 2 will note the length of 3^ feet, 
A being at the butt or larger end of the proposed 
rod-joint. (But be it understood that the bamhoo- 




Fig. 2 — ' Top view of steel planing-mold 

Strips should he left a little longer than the com- 
pleted rod-section, to allow for trimming at the 
ends.) We separate the mold-halves at this point 
so that the space from bevel-edge to bevel-edge at 
the mold's surface is exactly % inch, or half the 
diameter wanted there for the completed joint; and 
we separate the edges %6 inch at B. 

The particular beveled faces or edges of the mold 
that we make use of for our groove, whether one of 
the narrower or wider ones, are those best facilitat- 
ing the construction of a joint of the special diameter 
wanted, though the narrowest bevel may be used 
for any joint, if so desiring; we practically are un- 
limited as to the larger rod-calibers that may be 
produced, but the minimum is gauged by the Vsz- 
inch beveled edges, which, when brought close to- 
gether at one end of the mold, enable us to get out 
the component strips for a top-joint Viq inch wide 
at its tip. But this may be further reduced when 



PLANING THE STRIPS 85 

the joint is sandpapered after gluing; and such trim- 
ming-down of the small end of glued-up top-joints 
may be resorted to with impunity since here we are 
dealing with such a small caliber that the whole thick- 
ness of the joint is solid fiber. 

Months after I had worked out the details of my 
steel planing-mold and had used it with great satis- 
faction, it was with no little interest that I noted the 
description of a " shooting-board," by G. Randle 
of Plymouth, England, and communicated by him 
to Mr. Marston's famous Fishing Gazette. As will 
be seen, this is an adjustable planing-board con- 
structed of wood. Mr. Randle says : 

" During the past twelve months I have made 
some half-dozen split-cane rods by means of a shoot- 
ing-board made as follows : Get a piece of seasoned 




\ 




w/^/'^^^^r^^-^>/m\]m)\ 



sacTioN 



Handle's adjustable wood planing-board 

yellow pine, 8 inches wide, i^ inch thick, and 5 feet 
long. Plane one side true and straight. Get two 
pieces of seasoned mahogany the same length, 3 
inches wide, and about i inch thick. Bevel the edges 



86 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

as shown in the sketch. Screw these pieces to the 
pine board. The piece marked A is made to slide 
about ^ inch by cutting slots for the screws to travel 
in. This will allow the strips of cane to be planed 
of varying sections as required for the several pieces 
of the rod. The edges of the mahogany must be 
accurately beveled. Both edges of A can be beveled, 
one edge for the tops of the rods, the other, when 
reversed, for the remaining pieces." 

A very practical point in rod-building that chal- 
lenges attention during planing operations, is that 
the coarse, earlier planing is accomplished with very 
much greater rapidity than are the finishing-strokes, 
where careful deliberation must be practised; it also 
is very apparent how much more quickly than the 
smaller ones the larger joints are turned out. 
Again, if one job be made of the rougher planing 
on butt- and middle-joints for several different rods, 
much time is saved that otherwise would be em- 
ployed in setting the planing-blade — changing from 
coarse to fine and back again. Then, too, it is eco- 
nomical to have two planes. Further, top-joints will 
be built by the beginner much more readily — and 
they will be better built — after previous experience 
on the larger sections. The gluing, ferrule-setting, 
and permanent windings likewise are much easier 
work for the novice when dealing with the larger 
joints, and previous practise here simplifies these de- 
tails as applied to the more delicate tops. 



PLANING THE STRIPS 



87 



From all of the foregoing the observant reader 
win rightly conclude that he can complete four rods, 
for example, if working on all four together, in much 
less than four times the period that would be re- 
quired for one alone. He can do all his splitting 
and assembling, all his rough and then the fine plan- 
ing, all gluing up, the ferrule-fitting, all windings, and 
finally the varnishing, making a finish of each of these 
procedures in the order noted, and so " getting his 
hand in " on each that the bunch of rods is run 
through in a surprisingly short time. 

The preliminary planing of most commercial 
" handmade " rods Is done on a planing machine, 
only the final, accurate trimming of the strips being 
accomplished with a hand plane, when a long, jointer 




Planing-mold with side track 

plane may be used. The beveling may be done by 
feeding the strips to two rotary saws or cutters set 
at an angle of sixty degrees to each other, and the 
tapering accomplished by the automatic raising of 
a strip into the apex of the angle formed by the 
cutters as its small end approaches them. In finish- 



88 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

ing up with the jointer plane, a wooden mold may be 
used, and the plane may travel on a track attached 
to the sides of the mold and which permits the 
planing-iron just to clear the mold's surface and thus 
prevents it from touching and cutting into it. 



ROD-MAKING: 
ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 



CHAPTER V 

ROD-MAKING: ROD TAPERS AND ROD 
PLOTTING 

The novice is now much better prepared than he 
was at the beginning of this discussion of rod-making, 
to digest profitably the somewhat more technical data 
regarding rod tapers, and for suggestions how to 
plan a rod; hence the postponement of this chapter 
until the present time. 

A general principle that we regard as fundamental 
Is that the butt-joint should be enough heavier than 
the middle-joint, and this second-joint enough heav- 
ier than the top-joint, so that the hand wielding the 
rod senses that It has perfect control of the rod-tip 
from Its hold upon the handgrasp. In other words, 
the rod should not have the topheavy feeling im- 
parted by a jerky top. Some foreign rods, prin- 
cipally of the extra long, two-handed variety for 
salmon fishing, are purposely thus made to give a 
kind of kick in throwing out the line — such as the 
Irish, Castleconnell rods — but personally we very 
much dislike this peculiarity of action. 

Two split-cane rods of Identical caliber and weight 
will rarely have exactly the same action, because the 
qualities of the bamboo will dififer, and however llt- 

91 



92 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

tie, it yet is sufficient to impart a distinctive " feel " 
to each one of the rods. Then, again, individual 
tastes differ as to just what particular feel is most 
acceptable; hence subtle refinements of action ob- 
tained by hollowing out the lines of a rod at one 
point, and by giving them a swell at another place, 
are worked out as the result of considerable expe- 
rience both in the making and the using of rods. 
Therefore, beyond a certain point, it is practicable 
to offer data only as a basis for the reader's endea- 
vors and not as an absolute guide. 

This means that no matter how good may be the 
first rod put together by the beginner — and the 
chances are very much in favor of its being far supe- 
rior to any of the cheaper ones that he can buy — 
that rod will not satisfy him for long; for after a 
thorough testing out he soon will see how he can 
improve upon it — or at any rate he will believe that 
he does. But between guiding principles and some 
definite detail, we can put the amateur rod-builder in 
possession of information sufficient to start him on 
his way rejoicing. 

For a rod for fishing with the fly, good results 
may be obtained in one having a straight or even 
taper throughout, from butt^ to tip ; and by varying 
the caliber of such a rod, almost any degree of stiff- 
ness or flexibility of practical purport may be ob- 

6 " Butt " may refer to the large end of the whole rod, to the larger end 
of any joint or complete single section, or to the whole of the first or 
heaviest joint of the rod. 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 93 

tained. But a rod may be built on a swelled or con- 
vex taper, that will have a superior action; and by 
looking at the diagrams below, showing just what is 
meant by a straight, a compound-straight, a concave, 
and a convex taper, one will immediately recognize 
that the lines of the latter are the same as those 
which experience has proven most acceptable for 
flagstaffs and ships' spars — which also are subjected 
to persistent bending strains. 

Whatever the style of taper of the rest of the rod, 
in any event pattern the slender top-joint after the 



/C 

2C 




Different tapers: (i) Straight; (2) Compound straight or Scotch; 
(3) Concave or hollow; (4) Convex or swelled 

lines suggested by Figures 2 or 4. It is very im- 
portant for best results that the fullness at the butt 
of the top-joint be carried well forward until about 
the outer half of the joint is reached, when the cal- 
iber may fall away pretty sharply from there on to 
the very tip. As already mentioned, the extreme 
outer end may be further or wholly so reduced with 
sandpaper — in the case especially of the finer tops 
— after gluing up. Other methods of accomplish- 
ing a similar result will be noted later on. 



94 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

In planning a rod to have a straight or uniformly- 
graduated taper from butt to tip, the cahber of that 
rod at any cross-section throughout its length is read- 
ily determined by means of a diagram plotted as we 
will now explain; and even if it be not intended to 
have your rod of an absolutely uniform taper, such 
a diagram nevertheless furnishes a convenient basis 
for whatever modifications may be determined upon, 
and lets the reader into the secret of how he may 
design a rod of any taper or combination of tapers 
desired. 




Taper diagram for plotting rod 

Say that we have in mind a fly-rod of ten feet in 
length, of Vie inch diameter where the butt joins the 
handgrasp, and Me inch at the tip. We will reduce 
it to a drawing in this way, each quarter-inch of 
length in our illustration representing one foot of 
actual rod-length. In practise we prefer to have the 
drawing on a larger scale, so that each i^ inches 
represents a foot, when % inch then represents an 
inch of the real rod and Me inch stands for a half- 
inch. The diameters of your rod are the actual 
lengths of these cross-lines of your diagram, at the 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 95 

cross-sections marked respectively i, 2, 3, 4 feet, 
etc., from the butt end. 

Next we must get the diameters of the respective 
ends of our middle-joint, the rod being composed of 
three joints or pieces; and for the reason that we 
prefer all three completed joints to be of the same 
length, and because allowance must be made for the 
ferrule lengths, this is not so absolutely simple as it 
might seem. For perfect accuracy In our figures 
certain ferrule lengths must be known before we can 
ascertain the diameters of the joints at the points 
where the selected ferrules are to be located. 

The butt male (Inner or center) ferrule of the 
middle-joint will be seated about i/4 Inches In the 
female or outer ferrule at the smaller end of the 
butt-joint, and the top-joint ferrule will seat about 
iVs inches In its companion half; thus the total length 
of the rod when jointed up will be 2% inches shorter 
than the total length of its three joints or parts if 
placed simply end to end, without engaging the fer- 
rules. We want a total length, jointed, of ten feet 
or 120 Inches; then we must have a total length, un- 
jolnted, of 122.375 Inches, to be divided equally into 
three parts. This gives 40.79 Inches for each com- 
pleted joint, including the projecting ferrules. The 
female or projecting ferrule of the first- or butt-joint 
reaching i^4 inches (the depth that the male half 
seats) beyond the wood, gives 40.79 less iM, or 
39.54 inches, for the actual wood length of that 



96 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

joint (it being understood that some ten to twelve 
inches of handgrasp are included in this joint, in 
the completed rod) ; the corresponding ferrule-half 
of the second-joint projecting i % inches, leaves that 
amount less than 40.79, or 39.665 inches, for the 
wood length of the second-joint. The way that it 
works out is shown in our next illustration. 

Going back now to our previous diagram, we 
measure 39-54 inches from A, which gives B as 



'■ 1 1 



3^. 66 S >> 



< ^o.y^'^ ^ 

I ' 

Finding the joint wood-lengths — lo-foot rod 

the actual common caliber of the adjoining ends of 
the first- and second-joints; measuring, once more, 
39.665 inches from the point B, gives us C as the 
remaining caliber wanted. We now know the length 
of each of our hainboo-joints irrespective of the fer- 
rules, and we know the diameters of the respective 
ends of these joints or pieces of the rod, and can 
proceed to set our metal grooved-mold accordingly, 
using half of each of these diameters as the measure- 
ments from bevel-edge to bevel-edge across the face 
of the mold, in getting out the component joint- 
strips. Of course we maintain the mold so set, by 
tightening up the screws. 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 97 

The reader might be Interested to learn what 
analysis of the lines of some of the best professional- 
made rods would reveal as to tapers. We are 
pleased that we can satisfy this very natural curios- 
ity. The rods that the author calipered, at every 
foot throughout their lengths, are respectively the 
most famous American and British makes. The 
former is eight feet long and weighs three and one- 
half ounces; the latter is nine and one-half feet and 
weighs six and one-quarter ounces (a dry-fly rod). 
Each five-eighths of an inch in length of the diagram 
represents one foot of rod-length. The actual diam- 
eters that the rods calipered at each foot of their 
individual lengths are indicated by the figures in 
fractions of an inch. By multiplying these by four 
(in the original drawing), we obtained — in an 
exaggerated form, for easier perception — the 
widths which, connected by the solid longitudinal 
lines, give the lines of the rods; and these may be 
compared with the dotted lines in the diagram, 
which represent straight-tapered rods. 

Another clue to some of the underlying principles 
of successful rod-construction is furnished by noting 
the point of balance — where the rod will balance 
when held at one point horizontally, as across the 
finger — in some of the highest-grade productions. 
In two famous makes of American rods, tested with- 
out attached reel, Mr. Charles Zibeon Southard 
gives these figures: 31 inches from the butt end of 



tt ki 



.^L2_ 



'^9_ 



9' «3 



^ V 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 99 

handgrasp, in a 9-foot rod weighing 3^4 ounces; 
3134 inches, in a gVo-ioot rod weighing 4 ounces; 
34% inches, in a lo-foot rod weighing 5 ounces. 
Rods from the other maker showed: 3i/4 inches, in 
a 934-foot rod weighing 4H ounces; and 34^^ inches, 
in a lo-foot rod weighing 5% ounces. The in- 
creased weight of the handgrasp in a detachable- 
handle rod — because of the extra ferrule — would 
bring the balancing-point or center of gravity nearer 
to the butt end. 

In the endeavor to copy in a duplicate the exact 
action of any particular rod, these balancing-points 
should coincide; so, too, should the extent of the 
vertical deflection from the horizontal of the respec- 
tive tips, under the influence of a definite weight at- 
tached — say of one or two ounces — when the 
butts of the jointed-up rods are held securely; and 
further, so should the rate of the vibrations of the 
rods be the same when, still held as above, they are 
set to working. Says Mr. Ralph L. Montagu of 
Oroville, Calif.: "In order to make this test, the 
handle of the fully-jointed rod should be held in a 
vise " or blocked up on the end of a table and 
" firmly held by an assistant. Now, by pressing 
down on the rod near the handle, get it vibrating up 
and down; as soon as the vibrations become reg- 
ular, get out your watch and count the number per 
minute, using a finger to touch the rod lightly each 
time It comes up, and thus continuing Its full swing." 



loo THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

The downward deflection of the tip from the hori- 
zontal without any weight attached is termed the 
" free deflection." Mr. Montagu gives the follow- 
ing data concerning " a very perfect dry-fly rod made 
by a manufacturer with a world-wide reputation: 
Length, 9% feet; weight, 6 ounces; free deflection, 
6 inches; deflection with i -ounce weight, 19% inches, 
with 2-ounce weight, 33 inches; vibrations per min- 
ute, 106." The stiffer the rod the " quicker " it is 
— the more vibrations per minute; the " soft " rod 
is a " slow " one. " A good rod should have not 
less than one-hundred vibrations per minute." We 
also might note here that for best results in a rod 
designed for dry-fly fishing it is enlarged or made 
extra stocky toward the extreme butt. 

When it comes to a rod for bait-fishing, and to 
the construction of a short, Western-style rod for 
casting artificial bait from the reel, better results are 
attained for the special work required if these rods 
are relatively stiffer at the tip and for some distance 
back than obtains in a fly-rod. We will achieve 
this effect by having a more markedly divergent taper 
near the lighter end. In the case of our ten-foot 
fly-rod, as plotted — which is a rod having consid- 
erable backbone — a very satisfactory result will be 
produced by making an additional, bait top that shall 
be just one foot shorter than the fly top-joint, and by 
tapering it in a swelled fashion from the caliber at 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING loi 

C to from 2/^ to %2 of an Inch In diameter at Its 
tip. 

You will want two fly tops and two bait tops for 
this rod, top-joints being always supplied in dupli- 
cate with rods from the dealer's as they are the 
parts most frequently broken. Sample dimensions 
for the short, bait-casting rod mentioned above will 
be given later. 

We now have planned a ten-foot fly-rod weighing 
about seven ounces and suitable for heavy fresh- 
water angling, which with its shorter and stiffer top 
makes a very effective nine-foot bait-rod. For a 
second, lighter but very serviceable all-around fly- 
rod, the writer advises one of nine feet, having a butt 
caliber of % inch at the handgrasp junction and 
measuring Yiq inch at tip; and a more flexible rod, 
of very sweet action but still having plenty of 
" ginger ", is achieved by using the same size fer- 
rules while drawing the rod out to a total length of 
nine and one-half feet, the extra six inches represent- 
ing an addition at the butt — which somewhat In- 
creases the diameter just above the grasp — and 
especial care being taken to see that the full diam- 
eters of the whole of the butt-joint are not skimped. 

To secure the nicest action for fly-rods, do not 
have the diameter at the butt end of the butt-joint 
any oversize (unless deliberately so for special, dry- 
fly work) ; the same caution applies with even more 



102 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

emphasis to the top end of the middle-joint; but be 
sure to have the butt end of the top-joint fully up 
to the measure, and to lighten the outer half of this 
section as already mentioned. The reason why the 
dehcate top-joint of a properly-proportioned rod 
that is skilfully handled is sufficient to withstand all 
legitimate stress, is because a steadily-increasing 
strain is continuously thrown back upon the stronger 
parts of the rod. But when the butt of the top- 
joint is too slender and joins with a middle-joint 
small end that Is too stiff, then the strain on the top 
is not progressively and properly transferred to the 
middle-joint, which is the prime factor in the rod's 
action. A weak middle-joint means a vitally weak 
rod, irrespective of any other features, and it means 
a rod with a " kick." Also be it understood that 
owing to the bracing and distributing, truss effect of 
the line strung through the guides of a rod, the rod 
will bear much more strain than If the line simply 
were fastened to its tip. 

The reader will be interested to know what is 
meant by a " double-built " rod. This construction 
Includes twelve Instead of six strips to a joint, for a 
hexagonal cross-section, and the diagram illustrates 
their arrangement. It might at first glance seem 
that this involves just double the work In planing 
and gluing, but such is not the case. To produce 
this joint, the builder proceeds simply to glue to- 
gether two thinner bamboo-strips to make the rec- 




ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 103 

tangular strip, preliminary to planing to the trian- 
gular shape. After filing the knots, and straighten- 
ing his strips, he planes down a half- 
dozen on the pith side to but half the 
full thickness wanted. The other 
six strips, after receiving the same cross-section of dou- 
treatment, he files crosswise on the ^''■'^""' ^'"'"^ 
enamel side just enough to flatten this surface for a 
glue joint; the plane will not bite efficiently on this 
glossy, outside surface of the bamboo. When glued 
together, each double or compound strip will pre- 
sent on cross-section the appearance shown. The 
further treatment of these double 
strips is identical with that of simple 
strips, as already detailed, the result 
A double or com- being as the dotted V of the illustra- 

pound strip . t i • i i i i 

tion. In glumg together the halves 
of each strip, the knots are slipped or staggered as 
well as when gluing up the completed strips into 
joints. 

There is one situation where the expedient of 
double-built joints is of practical advantage, and that 
is in building butt- and middle-joints of very large 
caliber — as for salmon or salt-water rods. It also 
will be the resort at any time when you desire to con- 
struct a solid-fiber butt-joint and when a single thick- 
ness of the stock on hand is scant for the purpose. 
You also can employ this method in combining the 
handsomer Calcutta bamboo on the outside, for 



I04 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

looks, with the Tonkin on the inside of the joints, 
for service, making the Calcutta strips exceedingly 
thin — a mere veneer. Double-built construction Is 
not practicable for top-joints except the very heav- 
iest. 

A brief description here of the various classes of 
rods, their dimensions and distinctive uses, will be 
appropriate. Rods for fresh-water angling com- 
prise trout fly-rods, salmon rods, bait-rods, and the 
Kalamazoo or short rod that In recent years has 
been designated as the " bait-casting " rod. Certain 
kinds either of live or artificial bait are properly 
cast with the standard, long bait-rod — and at times 
the quarry Is thus more pleasurably played, and in a 
manner more sportsmanlike; but the distinctive ap- 
pellation of " bait-casting " rod has come to denote 
a stijffish, short Implement, preferably between the 
length limits of five to six feet, and which is used for 
casting particularly the heavier kinds of artificial 
bait — more frequently a wooden minnow or some 
other form of " plug " — the line running directly 
from a quadruple-multiplying reel as the cast is made. 
It is a Western style, very effective in bass fishing 
under certain conditions, is favored by many anglers 
for masklnonge In preference to trolling, and has 
been adopted to some extent even for trout and for 
salt-water fishing. It requires a distinctive and very 
interesting technic, and the sport also is similar to 
fishing with the artificial fly in that the angler goes 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 105 

after his fish instead of waiting for the fish to come 
to him. 

The salmon rod is an overgrown trout fly-rod, 
suited for its use in killing the larger and heavier 
fish. Salmon fishing has been much more extensively 
indulged in abroad than in the United States; con- 
sequently the prevailing popular style of salmon 
tackle was until somewhat recently dictated wholly 
by the ideas of foreign makers, principally Enghsh, 
Scotch, or Irish. These formerly were accustomed 
to produce absurdly formidable affairs in salmon 
rods, running to twenty feet in length and weighing 
several pounds. But the influence of the combined 
elegance and eflidency of the lighter, American 
trout-rods was reflected in the sphere of salmon- 
fishing tackle, so that now one rarely finds a rod of 
over sixteen feet in the hands of a modern salmon- 
angler; and many of them are shorter than this. 
Thus a recent number of the London Fishing Gazette 
tells about one British angler writing another: "I 
once owned an 18-foot greenheart salmon-rod, but 
induced a naval officer, ordered to British Columbia, 
to accept it as a present — sheer luck this, of course. 
I also owned two 17-footers; one of these a friendly 
Hussar put permanently out of business the first 
morning he borrowed it, but the other one I can 
neither sell nor lose, and keep for lending to friends, 
with the result that they soon buy rods for them- 
selves. This would really suit you admirably if 



io6 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

you 'd care to buy It cheap; it 's by a leading Scotch 
maker, and being twenty years old is thoroughly 
seasoned. I have three i6-footers. One was orig- 
inally bought for mahseer and is too powerful for 
most any other fish. Another was given to me by 
J. F. G., nearly twenty years ago, when he took en- 
tirely to split-cane. It was washiba wood — since 
furnished with greenheart butt and top — made by 
Harold, of Mallow. It has killed its thousandth 
fish and is my favorite rod. The third is also a 
daisy, by Farlow, in two splices. But I am getting 
on towards middle-age, and want a ' de luxe ' rod. 
These i6-footers of mine weigh 42 ounces, 39 ounces, 
and 38% ounces, respectively. Now Hardy's split- 
bamboo i6-footers weigh from 28 to 32 ounces. 
True, their price is a stomachache, but — well — 
perhaps to celebrate peace — ." 

The best British casting records made with rods 
of any length have been exceeded by American cast- 
ers with fifteen-foot rods, weighing about twenty-five 
ounces. Both hands are used on the rod in making 
the cast with the typical salmon-rod; it is a two- 
handed rod, and the butt and grasp are modified 
accordingly. 

We will now note some of the standard sizes and 
weights of different kinds of modern fresh-water 
bamboo rods, omitting extended reference to troll- 
ing-rods because the bait-casting rod with longer and 
heavier top answers every purpose for this style of 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 107 

angling. The figures given are subject to some 
slight changes owing to the varying weights of dif- 
ferent samples of bamboo-cane, and to differences in 
the windings and metal fittings of completed rods. 
The style of handgrasp and whether a rod is fitted 
with metal (solid) reelseat or simple reel-bands 
(skeleton reelseat) also are Important modi- 
fying factors of the total weight. According 
to the rules of tournament casting, three-quar- 
ters of an ounce may be deducted from the total 
weight either for a solid reelseat or for the extra 
pair of ferrules necessitated with the independent 
grasp. Keeping these qualifications In mind, we may 
make the general statement that fly-rods for trout 
and bass fishing range from eight feet in length and 
weighing four ounces, to eleven feet with a weight 
of nine ounces; though a ten-foot rod weighing seven 
ounces, or not much more, will, except in rare in- 
stances, be the advisable extreme for heavy rods of 
this class. For bass fishing, we recommend nothing 
under nine feet, and weighing six ounces — or five 
and one-half at the very least. An 8H-foot rod 
ordinarily weighs about 4% ounces; one of 9^ feet, 
6 ounces; and of lO/^ feet, 8 ounces. Rods are 
made to weigh much under these figures; split-bam- 
boos have been constructed, from seven to eight 
feet In length, that would scale one and three-quar- 
ters ounces — perchance even less, for all we know. 
It hardly Is necessary to state that such phenomenally 



io8 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

light creations are suitable only for the maker's 
exhibit of his technical skill or as pretty toys for the 
collection of the financially plethoric anglermaniac. 

As to calibers, the 8- and 8^^-foot rods will meas- 
ure about %2 of an inch at the extreme butt end and 
a scant %2 at the extreme tip; the same sizes of fer- 
rules, ^%4 inch and %2, will be used for both. 
Nine- and 9^^-foot rods will be ^%2 to ^%2 inch at 
butt and %2 to 2V32 at tip; and will take ferrules 
of ^%4 or ^%4 and ^%4 inch. Ten- to ii-foot rods 
will measure from ^%2 to ^%2 inch at butt and from 
2^/32 to %2 inch at tip; taking ferrules of either 
^%4, -%^ or 22/64 and i%4, i%4 or ^4/64 inch. The 
actual diameters of stock ferrules may vary minutely 
from their sizes as listed by the dealer. 

With rods from twelve to sixteen feet in length, 
we are in the salmon class. Such rods, if built 
double, will be proportionately heavier than accord- 
ing with the above schedule, because of the greater 
weight of the enamel or denser fiber. 

For calipering rods and for determining the di- 
ameters of the ferrules required in individual cases, 
some form of accurate calipering instrument is quite 
indispensable. The handiest form for the rod- 
worker is that like a miniature monkey-wrench, 
gauged to measure 64ths of an inch, and it costs 
about two dollars at the hardware store. 

The short, bait-casting rod is sometimes made in 
one piece or joint; either with or without an inde- 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 109 




Rod calipers 

pendent handgrasp. The writer prefers here the 
short butt-joint with solid handgrasp and long top 
arrangement; and he makes two top-joints, one be- 
ing lighter than the other for the casting of the 
lighter lures, and each is in duplicate. 

As to details of construction relating to the spe- 
cific styles and arrangements of guides for all of 
these rods, these will be considered in the chapter on 
" Windings and Guides." 

The bait-casting rod is 5^/4 feet in length, divided 
as follows: handgrasp and reelseat, 10 inches; top- 
joint, 38^ inches. The butt-joint is a scant %6 inch in 




22 3/^ 



-z?yy." 



Bait-casting rod layout 



diameter at its larger end (A) and ^^4 inch at the 
other (B) ; and the top-joints are each %4 inch at 
their tips, but differently tapered, though each has a 
double or divergent taper. 



no THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

We spoke awhile ago of giving a double taper 
to light fly-rod top-joints by sandpapering down the 
outer part after the joint was glued. Another way 
to achieve practically the same thing is by a swelled 
taper obtained by springing the mold apart a hit 
when setting it for getting out the individual strips 
of the joint; this is conveniently done by twisting a 
screwdriver the blade of which is thrust between its 
halves. Or, again, you can make double-tapered 
tops in the way that we have done it particularly 
with the heavier, bait-casting rod top-joints. The 



^ C 



Double or compound straight-tapered top-joints 

diagram will make this third method clear. These 
two tops first are planed down on a simple straight 
taper — that is, their component strips are — in 
either case the mold being set at 10^64 inch for the 
butt end. In building the lighter top, we first set 
the mold for %4 inch at the tip (C in the upper 
drawing) , 38% inches from A. For the heavier top, 
the mold first is set at %4 inch at C. The point B is 
at the location of a pair of the braces which hold 
the halves of the mold securely at the degree of 
separation at which they are adjusted, and it is about 
thirteen inches from C. In completing the planing 
of the strips for either top, we then loosen up all the 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING iii 

baseboard brace-screws excepting 'the two which 
hold the mold at B; we then pinch together the ends 
of the mold, at C, this time setting it here for 
3i/64 inch, and then plane the second, outer taper, 
from B to C. In getting the exact desired width 
for setting the small end of the mold, it sometimes 
is convenient — when double-tapering joints in this 
way — to use a certain number of pieces of tin or 
cardboard of a definite thickness and to bring the 
halves of the mold tight up against these " shives " 
when placed between their ends. 

No special attention other than the present refer- 
ence will be paid to rods especially designed for 
salt-water angling, as such Implements are more fre- 
quently made of material other than bamboo be- 
cause of the corrosive effect of sea water on fine 
tackle. Furthermore, sufficient additional data as 
to patterns and dimensions are easily obtained from 
the catalog of any first-class tackle-house; and yet 
again, are these really worthy of being considered 
"rods?" Rather, should they not be regarded in 
the light of mere infant telegraph-poles? ( — Who 
threw that tarpon ! ) Be that as it may, nobody who 
has mastered the principles of constructing angling- 
rods of split-bamboo has anything to worry about in 
such a straight-away proposition as the making of 
solid-wood rods, of greenheart, bethabara, lance- 
wood, hickory, ash, or in some combination of these. 
Such materials, in the square, and of sizes suitable for 



112 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

the various joints, are stocked by tackle-men, as also 
are spring-butts and other two-handed grasps. 
However, in concluding this chapter, we will note 
a simple device that we have found useful in re- 
ducing square rod-wood to tapered joints in the 
square. You then can place the joints in a wooden 
grooved-holder and plane off the edges to convert 
the tapered square joint into a tapered octagonal 
joint. The remaining work, of making a rounded 
swelled-taper joint or whatever kind is wanted, is 
all done with steel crescentic-notched scrapers (you 
can make them with a rat-tail file) and sandpaper, 
manipulated lengthwise of the joints as they at the 
same time are kept revolving by the other hand. 

The top view of this tapering device is shown 
In Fig. I. The sides are of wood, three Inches 



v/f/tf/faftimfa//-/f/////;f/raMme/rfff/zf/mr/7r/7//rirf/f//yyfAff///,/fym»//y/fyfy/, 



Fig. I — Top view of tapering-rig for solid-wood rods 

wide and one-half inch thick, held about the same 
distance apart — or slightly more — by the blocks 
set between the ends. Another piece of board, 
which fits snugly the space between the other two 
but is short enough to permit tilting of its ends, 
simply is slipped in. It is an easy matter to adjust 
this loose board, and to hold it by ordinary clamps 
which squeeze it at either end between the outer 
boards, in such position that you can reduce a squared 
stick that is laid against its upper edge, and held be- 



ROD TAPERS AND ROD PLOTTING 113 

tween the outside boards, to any taper desired, by 
planing the stick down flush with the upper edges 
of these outside boards (see Fig. 2). While aoing 



.« - 



Fig. 3 — Side view of tapering-rig 



this, the whole affair is held in your bench-vise. 
The side boards of this rig — or at least their upper 
edges — are preferably made of fine-grained hard 
wood; all else may be of any soft wood. 



ROD-MAKING 
GLUING UP 



CHAPTER VI 
ROD-MAKING: GLUING UP 

The attempt at gluing up his rod-joints has proven 
the particular Slough of Despond in which the crea- 
tive ambition of many a prospective rod-builder has 
become hopelessly mired; so it is not without a full 
sense of the responsibility assumed that we begin 
this chapter. Yet despite all this — listen, brother, 
while we whisper it — the writer of these words 
has glued, does and can glue up rod-joints — glue 
them up straight, and without suffering paralyzing 
apprehension as to the outcome while engaged in the 
process. Therefore take heart, all ye fearful ones. 

Various recommended methods were given trial 
before formulating the technic which has worked 
out most successfully in our own case, and which 
we shall conscientiously explain. 

What are the customary directions and sugges- 
tions — and their inevitable complications? — about 
as follows : First, you are told that both glue and 
strips must be kept hot; then, that it is necessary 
that the strips should receive a preliminary bath of 
glue which is allowed to dry in the bamboo, filling 
its pores; that you must heat a little and wind a Ht- 

117 



ii8 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

tie; that the winding — this temporary winding co- 
incident with gluing — especially in the case of the 
lighter joints and tops, will give a spiral twist to the 
joint — which you must overcome by winding in the 
opposite direction, and crossing the first threads, 
back to the starting-point; and if, before you get a 
quarter of the distance on your return trip, the glue 
has cooled and set so that the twist does not come 
out as you were counting on, why you heat the joint 
again (perhaps over an oil- or gas-stove or with a 
" steam hose ") , and repeat as often as may be neces- 
sary — your fingers the while accumulating stratified 
layers of rapidly congealing glue, so that they stick to 
each other and to the bamboo more tightly than the 
strips seem incHned to stick together — and there is 
glue, glue everywhere, particularly where you least 
want it, and where it most effectually can obstruct the 
work in hand. Yes, it is fierce I 

You may be interested to learn that Divine, the 
Utica, N. Y., rod-maker, once cataloged a special 
rod having a permanent torsional twist put deliber- 
ately into it, and he claimed that joints so made are 
more rigid than those of the standard form of con- 
struction. Accept whatever of consolation this bit 
of information may bring. We note also that the 
addition of a little acetic acid or vinegar to the glue 
has been recommended for retarding its gelatiniza- 
tion or setting; personally, we have not found the 
expedient necessary. 



GLUING UP 119 

In applying the glue to the strips, perhaps you 
have stood them endwise In a tin-tube of glue — 
standing that In hot water to keep It warm — and 
winding first one end of the joint and then reversing 
It and winding the other; or, first having tied the 
strips together at two or three points, you have 
made use of a cardboard or tin device having a circle 
of six triangular holes through which the unglued 
strip-ends are thrust to keep them separated while 
applying the glue .to their Individual Inner surfaces, 
as you Intermittently glue for a short distance, slip 
the separator along a bit, and wind. Then, after 
the winding Is completed, from butt to the smaller 
end of the joint, you sight along the joint for Ir- 
regularities, and heat It again at these points, to 
correct them by counter-bending. 

Again, we have tried gluing up and winding the 
joints in separate halves, clamping each half till the 
glue had thoroughly set, and then gluing the mating 
halves together and clamping the whole against a 
rigid, straight, heavy strip of wood with a lighter 
clamping strip. This latter plan yielded pretty fair 
results with some larger joints. 

But whatever of routine success others may have 
achieved In pursuance of any of the above methods, 
certain it is for us that way lies despair and wrath- 
ful objurgation, nothwithstanding we are able to en- 
dure all the preceding stress of splitting, straighten- 
ing, and planing with unruffled placidity. 



120 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

Most assuredly, if It be possible to glue and wind 
joints so that most of the glue remains where It Is 
wanted, and with but a minimum thereof affection- 
ately attaching to the hands, and If the joints can 
be wound In one direction only, and all this be ac- 
complished while at the same time straightening in- 
stead of twisting the joints, such a technic is highly 
desirable from all standpoints — those of progress, 
comfort, and efficiency. We presently will explain 
our path to this end. It is not to be expected, how- 
ever, from any method of gluing, that the meekest 
gluer may avoid becoming palpably " stuck-up." 
But a little hot water readily removes the glue from 
your hands — If not Its remoter effects from your 
conscience — which thus should be unburdened at 
sundry Interludes, as shall faithfully be noted. 

We are reminded here of the illuminating reply 
received by one who was attempting to lure from a 
professional rod-maker, canny as famous, the exact 
details of his gluing process. The query, " By the 
way, Tom, how do you glue up? " elicited: " Why, 
how do you suppose? With glue, of course." 
The anecdote serves as an introduction to the sub- 
ject of glue itself. 

The descriptive catalogs of most rod-manufac- 
turers will tell how each one's brand of rod Is made 
with a special, secret " waterproof cement," of won- 
derful adhesive and cohesive qualities ; how even the 
bamboo employed is of a particularly superior 



GLUING UP 121 

variety which needs must receive a distinguishing 
appellation unknown to the botanists; and how the 
varnish used is unlike anything In the varnish line 
known in the regular trade. In short — and simi- 
larly with particular brands of automobiles, marine 
gas-engines, guns and a few other articles of mer- 
chandise — this particular rod, sold by this particu- 
lar house, is the one and only implement, embody- 
ing to a superlative degree all the attainable excel- 
lencies to which an angling-rod could lay claim. 

Now, all these are good rods; and there can be 
no question that there are various and valuable 
trade secrets peculiar to rod-making, just as there 
are in any matured manufacturing industry — yet, 
glue Is glue; and it Is perfectly well understood by 
sophisticated buyers that in a general way such as- 
sertions of unique excellence may be dismissed as 
mere trade " talking-points." 

Any ordinarily good glue will suffice. The writer 
even has glued up satisfactory joints with the sheet 
gelatine that you buy in grocery stores for kitchen 
use, dissolved in hot water. Appropriately enough, 

genuine Russian Isinglass fish glue — is stated to 

be the very best thing for the purpose. It ought to 
be, at the price quoted, which years ago was about 
seven dollars a pound. It Is made from the bladder 
of the sturgeon, the real article Is very difficult to 
obtain, and many cheaper forms of gelatine are so 
called. The reader Is at liberty to seek this elusive 



122 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

brand,^ or to obtain the more expensive grade of 
imported French or German glue, soaking it over- 
night in cold water to soften it, then boiling it up in 
a regulation glue-pot when ready to apply it, and 
thus preparing it afresh each time that it is used — 
if he wants to. 

Many practical carpenters use Le Page's pre- 
pared liquid glue in their work, and we have glued 
rod-joints with this also. With Major's cement, 
Jeffrey's marine glue, and liquid " iron cement "we 
have had no experience in this connection. From 
any pattern- or cabinet-maker you can obtain some 
glue — perhaps coarsely granular and often compris- 
ing broken pieces of many different samples — that 
will serve your purpose fully. And after a short pre- 
liminary soaking in cold water, you can add a little 
more, hot water and boil it up by placing its cheap 
tin-container in a second receptacle, an ordinary 
saucepan of water. Some rod-makers' choice Is a 
good quality of white glue. In any event it should 
boil slowly — simmer — and the longer it cooks the 
better will it be ; and a hide glue is superior to a bone 
glue. Any expert wood-worker will tell you that 
two other important factors of an A-i gluing job are 
that the glue should be used thin and that the wood is 
hot when glued. Professionals heat the bamboo- 
strips in a hot-box. 

The amateur rod-builder can get a good fire go- 

6 Try Eimer and Amend's, New York. Some of this glue may be mixed 
with other glue. 



GLUING UP 123 

Ing in the kitchen range, place two irons or bricks 
a foot or so apart, and with thin pieces of wood top- 
ping them, on the stove over the fire (stove cover- 
holes remaining closed), and lay his strips athwart 
these wood supports till hot, without injury. Or 
a kitchen gas-range may be used, by placing the irons 
or bricks with a sheet of tin over them to cover two 
holes, and laying the pieces of wood to hold the 
strips atop the tin. 

While the function fulfilled by the glue in binding 
the strips together is tremendously effective from 
the standpoint of the increased rigidity of the glued 
joint as compared with its strips when simply bound 
together by windings, it nevertheless is true that all 
the glue has to accomplish is to hold the strips from 
sliding one against another — that Is, to prevent 
them from acting individually instead of as a solid 
homogeneous piece, when a bending strain is ap- 
plied. Now, a very slight adhesive force between 
the strips will suflice for this when it is distributed 
along their whole length, especially when this bond 
is supplemented by the ferrules at the ends of the 
joints, by the line-guide wrappings, and by the other 
strong, permanent silk-windings held in a plentiful 
coating of varnish. 

The malleability of the joints, and just how they 
act before the glue has stiffened, may be well ob- 
served in a joint whose finished strips are assembled 
and held by a snug temporary winding, without any 



124 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



glue having been applied as yet. Both the winding 
and the yet soft glue permit the strips to slide, one 
upon another, as you bend the joint; and to remain 
approximately in whatever was the form when the 
bending force was interrupted, because also they 
hold the strips from slipping back into their original 
position, until a counteracting force is applied. 
Bend the joint into an S shape and so it remains 
until bent some other way. Thus it is that this time 
of gluing up is the most advantageous time for mold- 
ing the completed joints straight. 

Get a small camel's-hair brush, not over one-half 
inch wide — or better, the stiffer, Siberian ox-hair 
kind that paint stores carry — and have your glue 
In readiness, the container resting in the saucepan 
of water which is kept warm over a convenient oil- 
or gas-heater or on the kitchen coal-range. Loose 
the strips of your joint from the 
winding that has bound them since 
they were finished. The writer uses 
Barbour's linen-thread — obtained 
at the dry-goods store — number 25 
for all except top-joints, and number 
40 for these; and he makes use of 
the one piece for temporary binding 
and for the winding-thread used In 
gluing. This thread, doubled, and 
made long enough to wind the whole length of the 
joint, has a slip-noose turned In its looped end. 




Doubled winding- 
thread with noose 



GLUING UP 125 

Place the thread conveniently nearby, so you can 
grab it instantly when wanted. Also have handy 
some warm water in a basin, a sponge, and a piece 
of rag (no relation to the " bone and hank of 
hair"). 

Lay the strips down in front of you, arranged in 
two groups of three strips each, and in this order : 



Bllllll 



311111 



3 nil 



^111 



B 

fl > II 



^1 



Strips grouped ready for gluing 

Pick up strip number I in your left hand, grasping 
it near its middle, and rapidly but thoroughly, with 
long strokes, apply the warm glue to the whole 
length of the inside surface. A, beginning at the 
smaller end; then lay the strip down again, on its 
remaining dry, planed surface. (It is better that 
the room where these sacred rites are progressing 
should be decidedly warm — at night, when the rest 
of the family are all abed, in the kitchen on the 



126 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

table, which Is drawn near to the coal-range, after 
you have started that a-going at a good pace, is 
ideal.) Next, treat strip number III (no, we don't 
mean II) in the same way, applying the glue to its 
planed surface B; lay it down. At any time when 
the brush may stiffen or the glue in the brush is too 
thick to spread well, limber the brush and thin the 
glue a bit at one and the same time by cleaning out 
the brush in the hot water in which the glue-can sits. 
Now you may pick up strip II and cover both of its 
planed surfaces with glue ; and don't lay this down — 
yet — but transfer it to your right hand (having 
laid that brush in a safe place, mind you, from 
where It will not fall on the floor and annex a choice 
collection of dust), which grasps It between thumb 
and forefinger, at the butt. Next, seizing strip I 
similarly in the left hand, pick It up and bring the 
glued sides of the strips II and I together; and, 
then, holding both in the left hand, pick up strip III 
and bring that up against the first two. Then place 
this half-section on the table, with planed surfaces 
down, and pinch all three strips together firmly, 
along their whole length, between thumbs and 
fingers, sufliciently for them to adhere together as a 
unit — some gaping will do no harm. 

Now, wash your hands in the warm water in the 
basin and wipe them on the rag. 

Exactly the same maneuvers are repeated with 



GLUING UP 127 

strips nil, mill, and IIIII, and this second half- 
joint is placed on the table near the first. 

Repeat the hand washing. 

Return to the half-section first glued, turn it on 
its back and spread glue liberally over its whole up- 
permost or inside surface, which is two strips wide. 
Apply glue similarly to the second half; and bring 
these halves together. 

Be sure to wash your hands this time, before pro- 
ceeding with the next steps, which are as follows: 
First secure the joint halves tightly at the butt with 
the noosed end of your doubled thread; but before 
pulling the noose up snug, tap the butt of the joint 
smartly against the table to even up the ends of all 
the strips. (Here's where you begin to speed up 
a bit — and where in Sam Hill is that blooming 
thread? — Well, we told you to have it handy, didn't 
we?) Having gripped the whole joint firmly 
within the noose, take a few initial spiral turns away 
from you, around the joint (Fig. i). Next, turn 
the joint so that its butt is now directed toward your 
left hand; lay it down on the table, still holding 
taut on the winding-thread; and proceed to wind 
tightly in spirals, spaced about three-eighths of an 
inch; rolling the joint away from you as you simul- 
taneously pull the thread toward you, and force all 
the strip edges evenly together under the combined 
constriction of the progressively encircling winding, 



128 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

the rolling of the joint, and the downward pressure 
against the table of the palmar surface of the fingers 
of both hands (Fig. 2). 

Before proceeding very far you will note to your 
great surprise and delight, first, that as you wind, 
the joint is straightened by being rolled against the 
unyielding level surface of the table; and, next, that 
it does not twist when carefully wound in this way, 
but each of its six flat surfaces holds to its own 
proper plane. ' 

Having completed the winding, wipe off the ex- 
cess of glue with the sponge and a little hot water. 
This also wets and shrinks the winding-thread, mak- 
ing still tighter constriction. Sight now along the 
joint for the more noticeable deflections; correct 
these by counter-bending, take out any very mild 
twist by counter-twisting, and then submit the whole 
joint to some more rolling treatment, very vigorously 
now, to and fro under the palms of the hands (Fig. 
3), and bearing on with considerable pressure. Oc- 
casionally we have rolled a joint under a flatiron. 
Continue rolling until the glue is well set and the 
joint considerably stiffened up, which requires only 
a few minutes, when it may be allowed to repose on 
the table until morning. 

Yes, it's pretty late — but really you should wash 
your hands again before going to bed. 

The following day you may remove the winding- 
thread and sandpaper the joint, using number o or 




Gluing Up: Fig. i — Starting the winding'thread 




Gluing Up: Fig. 2 — Winding 




Gluing Up: Fig. 3— Rolling 



GLUING UP 129 

number i paper. First remove the hardened ex- 
uded glue by systematically going lengthwise over 
each of the six flat surfaces individually; then over 
the joint as a whole, just sufficiently for the removal 
of any remaining glue and for the slightest round- 
ing of its edges; except that the outer part of fly- 
rod top-joints may be sandpapered vigorously to ma- 
terially reduce the caliber here as noted in the pre- 
vious chapter. 

Sight along the cleaned joint once more; correct 
any slight deflections yet remaining, by heating them 
very carefully over the flame (the enamel surface is 
bound to be exposed toward the flame now) , manipu- 
lating them between the fingers, and once more do- 
ing a little rolling, with the pressure concentrated 
at the particular spot undergoing final treatment. 

And there you are ! Rod-building possesses no 
more difficulties for you, worthy of the name; your 
joint is glued up; it has become a thing of beauty, 
as straight as an arrow. Who now may say that 
you can't do the trick? 

At this stage we once again take note of any little 
lumpiness that may still remain at the knot-sites, and, 
where indicated, make a final application of the file, 
using this time the small triangular saw-file and not 
the coarse, cross-hatched tool. 

Having glued up our joints they now are ready 
to be fitted with their respective ferrules. They are 
straight and rigid, and should remain lying on a flat 



I30 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

surface or suspended from their ends while awaiting 
further attention ; do not allow them to stand on 
end, the ends only being supported, or they may be- 
come bowed. And as varnish is an effective pre- 
ventive against the absorption of dampness, and the 
subsequent warping due to this cause, we apply the 
first coat very soon, but invariably on a dry day. It 
also is our personal practise to invest the joints with 
their first permanent, silk windings — after the man- 
ner described under " Windings and Guides" — be- 
fore they receive this first varnishing. 

A professional method of gluing and winding 
known to the author as having been employed by 
at least one maker, is the following: The six strips 
of a joint are laid alongside each other on their 
backs or rind surface; glue is applied quickly to all 
at once by a few rapid strokes of a wide brush; the 
strips are brought together and the joint is held at 
both ends in a lathe; while one worker turns the 
joint by the lathe handle, another winds It with 
tape, In overlapping spirals. A hand-rest extends 
along the front of the lathe. After winding, the 
joints are hung up by the small end to dry and 
season, being suspended by means of little clamps. 



ROD-MAKING: 

FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING; 
ONE-PIECE AND SPLICED RODS 



CHAPTER VII 

ROD-MAKING: 

FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING; 

ONE-PIECE AND SPLICED RODS 

Rod ferrules, the metal tubular fittings attached 
to the ends of rod-joints, by means of which the rod 
is jointed up or assembled for use, are made prefer- 
ably of German-silver (white-metal) or of gun- 
metal. Many high-grade English rods are made 
up with the gun-metal ferrules, reel-seat, etc., and 
in this dead black finish they are both very suitable 
and elegant. It would be somewhat difiicult to ob- 
tain these latter from domestic tackle-dealers; pos- 
sibly they might be supplied to special order through 
some of the more prominent anglers' supply-houses. 
Handmade German-silver ferrules are readily ob- 
tained on special order^ the price "^ being from one 
to two dollars a pair and may include waterproofing 
and serration. Stock ferrules in this metal are kept 
by all of the larger tackle-dealers, the variety and 
grade of some being much better than those of others. 
With the best of these available, the writer would 

7 The prices that we have noted for all rod-fittings are " before-the-war " 
quotations, and current prices are so unstable that we have let these stand. 
From thirty to fifty per-cent advance must be allowed, and more on some 
things. The agate used for guides formerly was imported principally from 
Austria. 

133 



134 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

deem the handmade article a luxury except for the 
very practical advantage of being able to obtain 
them in any diameter desired, exactly gauged to one- 
thousandth of an inch. The reader interested in 
exceptionally high-class rod-accessories, will do well 
to consult John G. Landman, 59 Cedar Street, 
Brooklyn, New York. . Edward vom Hofe and Co. 
also manufacture certain fittings on their own prem- 
ises, at 112 Fulton Street, New York; and we have 
found Ogilvie's, at 79 Chambers Street, New York, 
very satisfactory for some things. Ferrules carried 
in stock may be bought at prices ranging from fifteen 
to seventy-five cents per pair, according to size and 
style. 

The British taste in ferrules tends strongly to 
those furnished with some sort of locking device — 
" lockfast " joints. These are made abroad in 
great variety, but to American eyes they seem cum- 
bersome, unsightly, and altogether unnecessary. 
The plain American, friction (suction or vacuum) 
ferrule, depending for its holding power wholly upon 
mechanically exact fitting, looks pretty good to the 
American angler, who never has had legitimate cause 
to worry about any tendency in it to throw apart. 

Ferrules come in pairs consisting of the male 
(center or inner) ferrule and the female (outer or 
receiving) half, the outside diameter of a male fer- 
rule being identical with the inside measurement of 
its mating section. Either the male or female fer- 



FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING 135 

rules may be purchased separately. This Is a con- 
venience, especially in the case of male ferrules, be- 
cause of the customary duplication of the top-joints 
of rods, for the purpose of having one in reserve 
against a smash-up. The male ferrule is attached 
to the butt or larger end of a rod-joint. 

As ferrules constitute rigid portions of the rod, 
which otherwise is uniformly flexible from butt to 
tip, it is evident that it is a rnistake to have them any 
longer than is necessary for efficient service. For 
rods eight to ten feet in length, a union of one and 
one-eighth to one and one-quarter inches — depth 
of penetration of male ferrule — is suflicient at the 
joint between the butt- and middle-sections of the 
rod, and of three-quarters to an inch between the 
middle-joint and top. This will give a desirable 
over-all length of at least about two and one-half 
inches for the larger female ferrule of a ten-foot 
rod. 

Waterproof ferrules are supplied at an extra cost; 
they are made by soldering a disk of metal within 
the female ferrule at the point where it Is intended 
that this partition shall come down against the end 
of the rod-joint, in order to prevent access of water 
to the otherwise unprotected wood here; and wood 
absorbs moisture more rapidly from the ends than 
from the sides, and especially at these bamboo-ends 
unprotected by enamel. However, neither does the 
author consider these are a necessity, as he is willing 



136 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



to take the risk of any water finding its way into the 
joint of a rod that is fitted with ordinary ferrules 
set on after the manner which will be recommended. 
Ferrules are cataloged as plain straight; shoul- 
dered, capped or swelled; straight with rim or welt; 



-f 






J 



Varieties of ferrules: (i) Plain straight; (2) Shouldered, swelled or 
capped; (3) Capped with rim welt; 4) Straight with welt, and capped 
and closed center; (5) Hexagonal ends 

and shouldered with welt. And some have hexa- 
gonal proximal or rod-joint ends — which do not 
appeal strongly to the majority of experienced 
anglers. The accompanying illustrations show ex- 
actly what is understood by the above terms. The 
kind here recommended (number 4 in the illustra- 



FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING 137 

tion) has a straight-sided female member, and a 
shouldered male member that Is closed at the distal 
end — "closed-end center." They are obtainable 
from Abbey and Imbrle, at 97 Chambers Street, New 
York City, under the name of " bamboo " ferrules. 
We also have obtained similar satisfactory ferrules 
from the T. H. Chubb Rod Co., of Post Mills, Ver- 
mont, which that firm catalogs as their " special 
short, straight, welted ferrule, with capped and 
closed-end center." The Abbey and Imbrle fer- 
rules, at the time of this writing, were supplied in 
the following sizes, the figures denoting in fractions 
of an inch the outside diameter of the male or in- 
side diameter of the female or outer member: 

%4, "/64, %6, %2, ^%4, ^4, 1%4, ^%4, ^Vz2, %, %, 
1%2, %, ^%4, 1%2, %, ^%4, 2%2, %. T64,^^%4, %, ^V,^, 

^%4, i%2- The Chubb article ran In somewhat 
different sizes, namely: %2, ^le, ^%4, ^%4, ^%4, ^%4, 

^y32, %, 1%2, Me, ^%2, ^732, ^%2, %, ^VlG, 2%2, ^VlQ. 

Once again the reader Is cautioned that he should 
be prepared to find that actual diameters of stock 
ferrules may vary minutely from the sizes as listed. 

The sizes used by the writer for the ten-foot fly, 
nine- and nine and one-half-foot fly, and five and one- 
quarter-foot bait-casting rods mentioned in a pre- 
vious chapter, are respectively ^^46 and ^%4 inch; %2 
and ■^%4; and ^%4 inch. For the Independent-hand- 
grasp joint, for the fly-rods, V\q and % Inch. 

Ferrules that are a trifle large should be selected, 



138 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

rather than those a bit undersized for the joint at 
the place where they are to be fitted — when com- 
pelled to make the choice — as but a minimum 
amount of the wood should be cut away, especially 
in jilting the female ferrules, which preferably are 
without a shoulder, as already noted. The ferrule 
diameter should on no account be materially less than 
the rod diameter as measured, this time, between flat 
surfaces, at the meeting ends of the rod-joints where 
the ferrule is to be used; hence calipering these ends 
in this way will inform you of the ferrule sizes re- 
quired. An expedient sometimes of value when 
fitting to old joints new ferrules that are a trifle 
large, is to wind the joint-ends with waxed silk or fine 
linen-thread before applying the cement, and then to 
force the ferrules on over this. 

Only ferrules whose parts fit snugly together 
should be accepted and used. If too tight, the male 
ferrule is easily dressed down by turning it, together 
with its attached rod-joint, inside of a folded piece 
of fine emery-cloth held tightly between the fingers, 
finishing the process by rubbing it with a mixture of 
powdered chalk and linseed oil. Never use a file 
for this purpose. 

The proximal ends of ferrules — ends toward 
the rod-joints — should be either split or serrated 
for a short distance, in order to modify rigidity here. 
If this be not done, there are created abrupt lines 
of demarkation around the rod at every point where 



FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING 139 



the flexible bamboo emerges from 
the rigid metal tubing; and it is at 
one of these places that the rod is 
most likely to give way under excep- 
tional stress. A further good ex- 
pedient to relieve the strain at joint 
connections, is to locate a line-guide 
at the lower end of each female fer- 
rule, so that the line pull at these 
ferrule guides will come more di- 
rectly against the stronger side of 
the joints between the separate 
pieces of the rod. 

The amateur rod-tinker need not 
however pay the dealer the very 
considerable cost of ferrules hav- 
ing flexible ends — fifty or seventy-five cents more 
a pair — but, with the use either of a fine hack-saw 
or a small triangular saw-file, he may proceed to do 
his own splitting or serrating, as the case may be. 
When using the saw, it is advisable first to fit a plug 
of soft wood snugly within the ferrule-end to be 
sawed and to cut it off flush with the metal. In 

using the file, first notch the 
ferrule-end in two places, 
corresponding to Its exact 
middle diameter, by one 
stroke of the tool held hori- 
Next, divide each half of the 



Split and serrated 
ferrules 




Figures i, 2, and 3 — Guiding- 
notches for serrating ferrules 



zontally (Fig. i) 



140 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 




circle, by notches, equally into three arcs, by two ad- 
ditional file-strokes (Figures 2 and 3). You now 
have made your six guiding- 
notches with but three strokes. 
Deepen these notches a little, 
and then be sure to equalize 
them, by directing the side 
pressure of the file as re- 
quired, before completing the 
cutting to the full depth. 
For this the file now is held in 
an inclined position, as the il- 
lustration depicts, and you 
make short strokes away from 

Serrating ferrules \Tr\M 

For securing the ferrules in the vise without in- 
jury while sawing slits or filing notches, make a little 
holder from two pieces of soft 
wood, by chiseling a V-groove 
along a side of each, as represented 
in Fig. 4. 

Several kinds of preparations 
are in use for cementing the fer- 
rules onto the rod-joints, among 
them being common thick shellac, sealing-wax, bi- 
cycle-tire and gutta-percha dental cements. As an 
excellent and inexpensive ready-prepared article may 
be had in the shops, we never have bothered about 
cement recipes; the author uses Dodge's ferrule 




Fig. 4 ■ — ■ Wooden fer- 
rule-holder 



FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING 141 

cement, which he buys at William Mills and Son's, 
2 1 Park Place, New York City, for twenty-five cents 
a stick — enough to last a long time. Doubtless it 
may be obtained in many places, or a similar prep- 
aration that will serve as well. Whatever else you 
do In securing the ferrules to the wood, do not make 
use of any metal pins; they weaken the rod, are no 
effective preventive against loosening, and they con- 
stitute an annoying obstruction when the re-cement- 
ing of a ferrule is indicated. And do not use dow- 
eled ferrules. 

In fitting your ferrules, be sure that the female 
section is not thrust too far down over its joint-end, 
and so prevents the male ferrule from being seated 
the full depth; by placing the smaller (seating) part 
of the male ferrule alongside the outer end of the 
female, measure the distance down on the joint that 
the bottom of the female ferrule should extend, and 



F£Mai-£ f£jf;f(/i.£. 



tr F/L£ Dow/v fieae — ? 



M/\L£ FSRKUUE^ 



Finding point on joint for bottom edge of female ferrule 

mark this point on the wood. Allow for the least 
bit of space between the wood end within the female 
ferrule and the butt end of the male, when the rod 
is jointed up. Cut the wood down by careful cross- 
filing — as you roll the end of the joint on the work- 



142 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

bench, followed by turning It within a fold of sand- 
paper — only sufficient for a good snug fit of metal 
over the wood; and remember that the ferrule will 
expand a bit when heated. Be especially careful to 
have the female ferrule fit the wood as tightly as 
possible, for it is this ferrule that is more likely to 
work loose from its attachment. As you file and 
sandpaper, pause now and then to try on the fer- 
rule, giving to it a twisting motion, which will leave 
black rubbing-marks on the wood that indicate the 
high spots requiring further cutting away. 

In your fihng of the joint, endeavor to remove the 
wood equally on all sides, in order that the ferrules 
will be centered, and thus bring the whole rod into 
true alignment when its sections are jointed together. 

In applying the cement, be careful to avoid getting 
any upon that inside part of the outer ferrule which 
receives the male (inner) section. Soften the stick 
of cement in the flame of an alcohol lamp, a gas- or 
candle-flame; stick a few small gobs on the wood, 
and heat the cement and joint-end over the flame 
carefully, turning the joint to and fro the while, 
till the cement flows; spread the now liquefied cement 
evenly over the wood by stroking lengthwise with a 
match, toothpick, or sliver of bamboo; slip the fer- 
rule on as far as It readily will go; heat ferrule and 
all again over the flame a moment, then by firmly 
pushing against the floor or some other solid object, 
as the door-jamb, quickly force the ferrule home to 



FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING 143 

your mark. The excess of cement exuding from 
between the ferrule-end and the wood is best re- 
moved while yet hot and semi-liquid, by a circular 
wiping stroke with a rag, or better, by turning the 
joint against the rag; and when cold and hard, it 
easily is chipped off with a knife-blade manipulated 
cautiously. 

As German-silver ferrules are tempered, overheat- 
ing directly in a flame is injurious to the metal. 

File down paper-thin the extreme ends of the 
teeth made in serrating, as the silk-winding is to ex- 
tend up over them onto the solid metal; and, to make 
a " very particular job," you also may file down the 
whole length of the outside surface of the teeth or 
slit portions to just beyond their bases, so that the 
silk-wrapping, at its termination on the ferrule, will 
lie nearly or quite flush with the metal surface it butts 
against. The shaded portions of the illustrations 
of serrated and split ferrules represent this area of 
superficial fihng. One of the teeth or sections be- 
tween slits will lie against each flat surface of the 
lod-joint, except that in the case of the smaller-top 
ferrules you may make but three serrations and have 
a tooth lie along each alternate flat face of the rod. 

As a precaution against dampness, you may varn- 
ish the extreme joint-ends, which receive the female 
ferrules, before attaching the ferrules, and then 
when applying the cement to the joint you also can 
spread a smooth coating of this over the same place. 



144 . THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

There are yet other devices. Mr. W. L. Ayles- 
worth, an Enghsh authority, states that paraffine or 
type-metal is much more penetrating than either var- 
nish, shellac, or most any other coating compound, 
and that if the paraffine be melted, the ferrule heated, 
and the paraffine poured into the ferrule onto the 
bare wood, it will penetrate for a considerable dis- 
tance and renders it absolutely waterproof. A 
warmed glass medicine-dropper is a handy tool with 
which to introduce your paraffine. 

Mr. Aylesworth further remarks: "In fact, it 
is difficult to say which is the better compound, for 
both are very penetrating and satisfactory for this 
purpose. The neglect to waterproof wood at the fer- 



D 



IVOOD 

V~J*1£TAL 



Sealing and locking ferrules with type-metal 

rules and protect it from moisture probably has more 
to do with the joints breaking at these places than the 
angler is aware of. It also is a good plan to turn or 
file a small groove around the joint, at about an 
eighth of an inch from the end entering the female 
ferrule, and to turn the end down slightly so that 
the type-metal, if used, will run down between the 
wood and the ferrule and into the groove. This 
will have a tendency to solder the ferrule onto the 
wood. Melt the type-metal in a spoon or ladle and 




FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING 145 

pour it in the ferrule on the wood after cementing, 
by use of a small funnel." 

The present writer prefers to rely for fixation of 
ferrules wholly upon snug fitting and cement, and 
he uses the paraflline for waterproofing the bare wood 
at the joint-ends. 

When all your ferrules are fitted, you can make 
some little wooden plugs for the open ends of the 
female ferrules, both to guard them against injury 
y<rs. and to keep out dirt and dust. Stock fer- 
vi> / rules are not supplied with any sealing de- 
vice, but handmade ferrules may have 
little caps (grease-caps) that fit snugly 
Wood ferrule- within their ends, and which may be 
^"^ slightly greased or oiled before inserting, 
when the rod is disjointed. 

One-Piece and Spiked Rods. — In the endeavor 
wholly to obviate this rigid feature of metal fer- 
rule connections in rod construction, some rods — 
especially veteran salmon-rods of English, Scotch, or 
Irish manufacture, are without ferrules of any kind, 
being made to joint up by a whipped splice; or again, 
rods are made, even up to eleven feet long, in one 
clear length of split-bamboo — one-piece or one- 
joint rods. You rarely see today a rod of either 
description, and almost never in America, as any 
slight advantage of such construction is not at all 
commensurate either with the greatly-increased diffi- 
culty of building and the consequent extremely high 



146 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

cost, or with the inconvenience entailed in the trans- 
portation of or in the putting-up and taking-down of 
the rod. A ferruled rod, built with the precautions 
that have been noted, is good enough for the most 
fastidious angler; beyond a certain point, additional 
refinements belong within the category of the ex- 
quisite rather than the useful. 



B 



Spliced-rod joint-end and cap 

The manner of jointing the spliced rod may be 
of interest to the reader. The splicing ends of the 
joints have long bevels, of several inches; these are 
reinforced by fine silk-whippings, and may be pro- 
tected when the rod is not in use by metal caps which 
slip over them. Before splicing the joints in the 
preparation of the rod for use, warmed shoemak- 
ers'-wax or beeswax is thoroughly applied both to 
the beveled surfaces of the wood and to the linen- 





JJnrri nlrArt TT ^■'"^■^i^^*'**.**^-**^ 



Spliced-rod lashing 



thread which binds the splice together. In addi- 
tion to the circular turns of this wrapping-thread, 
lashings running lengthwise under the former are 



FERRULES AND THEIR FITTING 147 

sometimes used, which pass through little metal rings 
or around hooks for further security against the 
joints throwing apart. (Our diagrammatic sketch 
shows the splice rather short.) 



ROD-MAKING: 
WINDINGS AND GUIDES 



CHAPTER VIII 

ROD-MAKING: WINDINGS AND 
GUIDES 

The silk windings (wrappings or whippings) of 
a split-bamboo rod, in addition to securing the Hne- 
guides in position and serving as a most effective 
reinforcing bond for holding together the individual 
strips of which each rod-joint is composed, are gen- 
erally considered a factor in adding to the rigidity of 
the rod. In commercial practise the joints are held 
in a lathe-like apparatus while being wound, but this 
is not at all necessary for the limited operations of 
the amateur. Authorities on practical angling 
nearly all believe that closer winding will stiffen a 
rod appreciably. From this it might be inferred 
that a rod solidly wound throughout its whole length 
would be very much stiffened; however, solid wind- 
ing does not work out this way in practise, making 
the rod logy rather, and it is not in favor with ex- 
perienced rod connoisseurs. In fact, some of the 
very finest modern rods have no windings except 
those that attach the guides and overlap the ferrules. 

As already has been mentioned, the writer re- 
gards silk windings as very much superior to any 

iSi 



152 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

form of metal wrappings; but, when he uses them 
at all except for guide lashings, he applies the silk — 
differently from the usual method of a series of in- 
dividual, narrow circular bands — in the form of 
a continuous trellised or diamond-patterned whip- 
ping which extends the whole length of the joints. 
And he whips with unwaxed silk, just as obtained 
from the drygoods store. For this method he 
claims the following very practical advantages, 
wholly irrespective of its highly distinctive appear- 
ance: It makes a good holding-ground for the 
varnish, the bare outer skin of bamboo offering, in 
this respect, a surface not much more acceptable than 
does glass or steel; it supports or stiffens the rod 
to a greater degree than could the closest practical 
individual bands, a good idea of its effectiveness be- 
ing obtained by comparing the " backbone " of a 
top-joint thus wound — and even before any varn- 
ish is applied — with its unwound duplicate; it ma- 
terially assists in preventing set; it reduces to a 
minimum the number of invisible-end fastenings 
necessitated in the complete winding of the rod. 

Unwaxed silk is preferred as offering the varnish 
a better chance to penetrate, shrink it, and glue it 
down onto the wood. And we do not use the more 
brittle white shellac, white French lacquer, or thin 
white glue or mucilage as a preliminary coating for 
the windings, to prevent a darkening of the silk, 
which we do not regard as at all objectionable. 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 153 

(Equal parts of collodion and banana oil Is used for 
the same purpose.) On the other hand, if the proper 
colors and shades of silk be selected, our personal 
taste approves this increased depth of color as im- 
parting a less flashy, richer, and altogether more ele- 
gant appearance. But restrain your preference from 
running to delicate, weakly-defined shades, as you will 
be unpleasantly surprised to see how they will lose 
character under the effect of varnish. If you do 
not want the diamond whipping to contrast with the 
color of the bamboo, select for this a light orange 
or a yellow shade and it will be almost invisible ex- 
cept on close inspection. If you do use white shellac 
in alcohol for the primary coat, to preserve the 
original shade of the silk, make but the thinnest ap- 
plication of it. 

The most satisfactory colors for windings are 
black, a bright green or red, yellow, a good brown, 
or purple — neither of the latter in too dark a shade 
and '^ all these used either in one solid color or 
in various combinations. Yellow and red, yellow 
and green, or green and black are good used to- 
gether. 

We employ the size A silk, commonly used in mil- 
linery and dressmaking, and thus readily obtainable 
at any drygoods " emporium." This is about the 
thickness of what the tackle-dealers grade as medium 
or coarse; for the finer silk-thread In colors you must 
apply either to them or to jobbers in the trade, as 



154 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

you will not find it on general sale, though perchance 
on occasion at the " art-embroidery " counter of one 
of the larger department-stores. To be sure, you 
can split the A silk and make use of only a part of its 
strands; this, however, hardly without waxing. But 
if your ideal in rods is represented by a good service- 
able article, not much under five ounces in weight, 
the A size is none too heavy. Rods are made much 
lighter than this and they are very exquisite; and 
may be very efficient, too — for the expert under the 
usual conditions prevailing in the smaller streams. 
Yet we have seen a sixteen-inch brown trout, Salmo 
fario, in a four-foot-wide stretch of water; and even 
though the size of the fish in the small streams may 
average seven to nine inches in length, the fisherman 
never knows when that whopper will grab his fly, nor 
in what difficult situation he may be obliged to con- 
trol him promptly if the prize is to be creeled — 
and where is the angler who would not gladly sacri- 
fice all his smaller catch rather than lose that chance 
big fellow? 

The brands of silk-thread found usually in the 
stores are either the Corticelli, Belding, or Heming- 
way. We have no choice, but can indicate by the 
numbers stamped on the respective spools the shades 
in the Hemingway brand that will work out effec- 
tively. These are : purple, number 794 — or very 
dark, 1044; brown, number 484; green, 891; and 
red, 633. There is a shade of green in the Corti- 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 155 

celli brand very like the Hemingway 891, but hav- 
ing a yellower glint, that is a bit better. 

Start the continuous winding at the butt-end of 
the rod-joint, by making a few circular turns of the 
silk away from you; the end is caught beneath these 
initial turns (Fig. i), and wetting the end of the 




Fig. I — Silk winding 

silk will prevent it from slipping when you com- 
mence. You now are holding the joint in your left 
hand and its butt or male-ferrule end is directed to 
the right. To ascertain the exact point of starting, 
A, you must measure off from the joint-end, B, a 
sufficient distance nicely to clear the other end of 
the ferrule, at C, as the ferrule winding is to be a 
separate affair. 

Next, turn the joint butt-end to your left; hold 
the circular turns with your left thumb while cutting 
off short the silk-end, D, with a sharp knife; and 
start to wind a spiral toward the smaller end, rotat- 
ing the joint away from you between the fingers of 
the left hand, while you hold the silk (E) taut be- 
tween the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. 



156 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 




Fig. 2 



pulling toward you and to the right (Fig. 2). The 
spool-end, E, is rendering from the spool as you hold 
the latter in your hand, or as it rests in a convenient 
receptacle to prevent its rolling away. 

The symmetrically-graduated spacing of this first 
spiral-winding is guided entirely by the eye. For 
butt-joints, the writer starts the turns spaced from 
three-quarters to five-eighths of an inch, and grad- 
ually runs them down to one-half inch apart at the 
smaller end; on middle-joints, the turns are spaced 
one-half inch at butt, gradually diminishing to one- 
quarter inch; and for the top-joint, they run from 
one-quarter inch down to one-eighth inch at the rod's 
tip. On the butt-joint he lays up three courses of 
windings to each spiral, side by side, two courses 
similarly on the middle- and a single-thread course 
on the top-joint. 

To know when to terminate the spiral-windings 
at the female-ferrule end of the joint, you previously 




Fig. 3 — Silk winding 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES iS7 

must have noted the spot (A, Fig. 3) by a pencil- 
mark, after measuring from the ferrule-end, B, a 
sufficient distance both to clear the ferrule and to 
allow space for the line-guide, D, that is to be located 
here. End the spiral by a few close turns at A; 
then turn the joint so that the end B is again directed 
to your left, and start the return spiral. For all 
spiral-windings returning over the same course you 
must reverse your thread by looping it and catching 



Fig. 4 — Silk winding 



the loop with a few circular turns that are cast over 
it, as illustrated in Fig. 4. Do not mind any bunch- 
ing of circular turns here, as both the loops and these 
circular turns are but temporary, and all will be cut 
away later, when a smooth, permanent circular- 
winding takes their place. This looping maneuver 
is necessitated in laying the second and third courses 
of each spiral-winding on butt-joints, and for the 
second course on middle-joints. To produce the 
diamond-whipping on top-joints, in single-thread 
spirals, it is not necessary; you then continue to wind 
ahead without reversing the thread, till the four 
spirals are finished, simply by crossing your thread 



158 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

— after completing one circular turn which termi- 
nates each spiral course — and by reversing the 
joint, end for end, which starts you back all right 
when a succeeding spiral is to be wound in the same 
direction around the joint, but lengthwise of the 
joint in a direction opposite to that taken by its im- 
mediate predecessor. Complex as this may sound, 
it really is the acme of simphcity in operation, as 
you will learn at the very first attempt. 

In order to have the spacing of the second spiral 
conform to that of the one first wound, it is neces- 
sary only to see that the threads of the two spirals 



<t:5<;-c!^-^<^ A 



Fig. 5 — Silk winding 

cross at the same angular side of the rod-joint, 
which you select in preference to a flat surface, for 
more accurate guidance (A, Fig. 5). 

Two additional spirals are needed to produce the 
closer trelhsed or diamond effect sought, and these 
are laid so as to halve the space (as shown by the 
dotted lines in the Illustration) between the spirals 
previously wound, the eye alone readily serving here 
as an efl^clent guide. 

Intricate as the process may appear from the ulti- 
mate result, the reader soon will understand that it 
is only the first spirals over each joint that must be 
wound with a great deliberation and care as to sym- 



/ 
WINDINGS AND GUIDES 159 

metrically-graduated spacing. That does determine 
the outcome, but the subsequent spirals are wound 
with increasing rapidity. Attention is directed also 
to the fact that even the most serious mishap to any 
part of the continuous winding, after the rod is com- 
pleted, in no case necessitates rewinding the whole 
joint, but only of the short interval between two con- 
secutive solid windings, whether guide- or ferrule- 
wrappings. 

All rod-windings are terminated finally by an " in- 
visible-knot " ending. Before taking up the ques- 
tion of guide- and ferrule-wrappings and their loca- 
tion on the rod — the detailed layout — we will 
describe several ways of making the invisible knot or 
whip finish, which, after all, attain but one and the 
same result. The winder soon will find that the 
particular method which is most convenient will de- 
pend both on himself and on the particular location 
of a winding, or on other special conditions under 
which he is compelled to make the fastening. The 
mystery of this is the chief secret of rod-winding, 
and it really is no " knot " at all, but a trick of 
burying the end under the final turns in order at once 
to get it out of the way and to keep the winding 
from unwrapping. 

The illustrations that follow, Figures i to 9, show 
windings made with a coarse thread instead of the 
actual winding-silk, for the purpose of clearer delin- 
eation. 



i6o THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



We start a solid circular-winding in exactly the 
same way that we started the spiral-winding, that is 
by catching the starting-end of the thread under the 
first few coils. When nearing the end of your wrap- 
ping, hold the last tight coil. A, with the thumb of 





Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 

Silk winding: (i) Starting the loose coils; (2) Free end of silk run under; 

(3) Loose coils wound tightly over terminal end — awl-point holds loop; 

(4) The loop drawn in; (5) Separate-loop method 

the left hand, while — after cutting the silk to allow 
a sufficiently long end — with the other hand you 
make several loose coils, B, in the same direction 
around the joint as previously, but a short distance 
from and winding back toward this last tight coil; 
insert the free end of the silk, C, under the coil. A, 
held by the left thumb; continue the winding by hold- 
ing on to the loop, D, which unwraps the loose coils 
while at the same time it transfers them into tight 
coils laid up against the completed section of the 
permanent winding and binds the terminal silk-end 
tightly underneath; insert a large pin, point of a 



I 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES i6i 

finlshlng-nall, or any similar pointed instrument (a 
shoemakers'-awl is most handy for this) through the 
loop, E, which holds it taut to prevent It from kink- 
ing, then draw the loop up close to this, drop or pull 
out the pin (or whatever your bodkin may be) , and 
at the same instant quickly pull the end, C, up tight; 
cut off the surplus free end close to where it emerges 
from the wrapping, with a quick sawing motion of a 
sharp knife. 

A modification of the above method makes use 
of a separate loop of heavy, waxed linen-thread, for 
the purpose of pulling the terminal silk-end under 
the last few coils, which already have been wound 
tight. The loop (A, Fig. 5) is laid in place length- 
wise of the rod-joint as you approach the end of a 
wrapping, several coils are carried over it, and then 
the free end of the winding-thread, B, is pushed 
through the loop and pulled under and out, where 
the loop emerges at C. In using very fine winding- 
silk, a fine needle may be substituted for the. loop, 
and the end of the thread inserted through its eye. 

Another method, that the author frequently 
adopts, consists in making the final loose turns both 
over joint and the tapered end of a miniature marlin- 
pin or a lead-pencil point laid alongside of the joint. 
The end then is turned back through these coils, be- 
tween the marlin-pin and the joint, as Fig. 6 depicts; 
the forefinger of the left hand holds the last tight 
coil against the joint as the marlin-pin is withdrawn. 



i62 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

The first loose coil, B, then is picked up by inserting 
under It the point of the shoemakers'-awl; the thread- 
end, C, is caught by tightening this coil, and the re- 
maining loose coils are laid up against the rest of 
the wrapping, which is completed in the same manner 
as described above. 

The most ingenious method of all, but not always 
applicable, is first to decide under how many coils 
you wish to bury the terminal-end, and then to throw 




Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 

Silk winding: (6) Marlin-pin method; (7,8, and 9) Method in which 
terminal coils are thrown first around joint 

these coils loosely around the joint upon beginning 
the wrapping. The silk Is not cut until all is fin- 
ished and pulled taut, so none Is wasted. It prac- 
tically is a reversal of the method first described. 
Referring to Fig. 7, suppose that It is desired to 
start at A and to wind toward the bottom of the 
page. B is the spool-end of the silk, C Indicates four 
loose coils, and D is the loose-end of the silk. The 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 163 

first step is to catch the end, D, under the first turn 
of the Wrapping, as shown in Fig. 8. You now can 
wind ahead, holding the silk at G and rotating the 
joint to the left, as far as you like. As the F-end of 
the loose coils is renewed from the spool as fast as 
the E-end unwinds, these four coils are carried right 
along throughout the whole wrapping. When ready 
to end the winding, passing the spool-end of the silk, 
B (spool and all), under the winding-thread, G, 
catches it as shown in Fig. 9. Continue the wrap- 
ping to dispose of the four loose coils, pull the end 
(B) taut, cut it short, and your wrapping is com- 
pleted. 

A hexagonal lead-pencil and a piece of ordinary 
wrapping-twine are good materials with which to 
practise the details of these windings and endings. 

When making solid wrappings, press all the coils 
firmly together from time to time, with some suit- 
able blunt instrument, as the edge of a paper-cutter 
or back of a table-knife; and when completed, before 
varnishing, rub them smooth with the rounding 
handle of a tooth-brush — all the better if it is of the 
old-time genuine bone variety. Also at this time 
you may apply a match- or candle-flame for an in- 
stant to any fuzz or thread-ends that may be pro- 
jecting in an unsightly fashion; but an alcohol flame 
is the best, being less likely to smudge light-colored 
silk. You readily can detect these ends by sighting 
lengthwise along the joint, as you slowly rotate it. 



i64 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

We are assuming, now, that all ferrules have been 
serrated or split and are cemented in position, that 
the diamond-whipping is in place, and that a prelim- 
inary thin coat of varnish has been applied to the 
joint and is dry. We have yet to bind on the Hne- 
guides and to put on the ferrule-wrappings. This 
is done with individual close-laid or solid circular- 
windings, and they constitute all of the windings of 
this character that are needed on any rod-joints that 
previously have been wound as we have described. 

Naturally, we first must determine how many 
guides we shall use and just where they shall be 




Guide and winding layout for lo-foot fly-rod 

located; also whether these solid wrappings shall be 
of the same color as the diamond-winding or of a 
contrasting color. To the writer's taste, all-green 
windings, yellow touched off with red or green, or 
green touched with black make a strong appeal. Let 
us suppose that we have agreed upon the latter, and 
that we now are at work on the ten-foot fly-rod. 
Our winding-plan would be as shown in the accom- 
panying diagram, the figures indicating the distances 
in inches from guide-center to guide-center, when the 
rod is assembled. The darker windings are those 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 165 

of the black silk, and these, beginning with the three 
bands grouped at the rod-butt, which are a scant one- 
eighth inch wide, should gradually diminish in width 
all the way to the rod's tip, where they may consist 
of only four or five turns of thread. When making 
top-joints in duplicate or triplicate, it Is a good plan 
to distinguish them by special arrangements of bands 
at their tips; you then can always identify the par- 
ticular one in use. 

After the positions of the guides are located, 
bands of black silk are wound around the joint, over 
the spiral-winding at each point where the guide- 
wrapping will come, and in such a way that each sohd 
guide-wrapping of green will be set off at its ends 
with a narrow black border. When once these are 
in place, and In addition to the rest of the joint have 
had their preliminary coat of varnish to hold the 
silk here, the spiral-winding is cut and unwound be- 
tween them at each guide-site; the guides then are 
bound on close against the wood, when their wrap- 
pings may receive a first coat of varnish. 

Note that a guide is placed at each ferrule-connec- 
tion, at its lower and stronger side. Some further 
detail is called for concerning the guide-windings at 
the ferrules and the ferrule-windings themselves, and 
reference to the accompanying diagram will mate- 
rially aid In understanding about this. Before start- 
ing to wind on a guide at the end of a joint or to 
wrap a ferrule, first we place a smooth, permanent 



i66 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

circular-wrapping (A) alongside and below the 
lumpy, temporary circular turns at the ends of the 
diamong-whipping; we then cut away these unsightly 
coils of the first or spiral winding that were necessi- 
tated in applying it. We now have a clear space 
from A to E, and we use the length of the guide ( C ) , 
which is to be located here, as a measure for the 
exact extent of this space. 

All guides are wound solidly from end to end 
— that is, the winding extends underneath the ele- 




/\ B D E, 

Guide and ferrule wrapping 

vated part of the guide; and the wrappings at the 
ferrules cover in the serrated ends up to and lapping 
the solid metal, at E, to prevent access of water or 
dampness at that end of the ferrule. From A to E 
the winding consists of three sections. It is started 
at D — the point on the rod-joint where the shank 
or foot of the guide meets its standing part; then 
is carried to B, when the guide is placed in position 
and its proximal (lower or inner) shank is covered 
in, from B to A; and it ends with its last coil close 
up against the band at A. The other shank (distal, 
upper or outer foot) of the guide, C, overlaps about 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 167 

half-way the ferrule-tooth that lies on the flat sur- 
face of the joint to which the guide is applied. The 
ends both of this shank of the guide and of the 
ferrule-tooth have previously been filed down thin 
with the little saw-file. The wrapping is completed 
by the wholly independent section represented by 
D — E, starting at D; thus this section alone must be 
removed for the purpose of re-cementing a loosened 
female-ferrule, and the guide is not disturbed in its 
position. 

Before securing any guides to the rod, it is most 
important that it should experimentally have been 
jointed up with different flat surfaces of its respec- 
tive sections in alignment, in order to determine what 
particular arrangement gives the best results; and 
when this has been accomplished you should mark 
the guide surfaces of each joint for future identifi- 
cation. However carefully you have endeavored to 
center the ferrules on the joints, you probably will 
be surprised to find when the rod is jointed up in 
certain ways that there will be produced quite a 
decided angular deflection at least at one of the 
junctions, but which a slight rotation of one of the 
connecting pieces may correct. If not satisfactor- 
ily remedied in this way, then joint the two rod- 
sections together in their best position and hold the 
union — both including ferrules and the wood within 
them — over the alcohol-lamp flame, heat all very 
carefully but thoroughly, and then very cautious but 



1 68 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



firm manipulation between the hands — one at either 
side of the ferrule-joint with thumbs extended — 
will solve the difficulty. 

With due regard to what has been said above, you 
should try also to have any rod-joint which may show 
a slight long bend extending throughout its whole 
length, so placed that the flat side most identified 
with the convexity shall be the down or guide side 
when the rod is held in position of use — with reel 
underneath, for the fly-rod. In other words, the 
guides should line up when the rod-sections are 
jointed in the best possible position, looking to the 
truest alignment and best action of the whole rod. 
It now remains to consider the guides themselves; 
what kind shall we use? 

For both bottom- and tip-guides — points of great- 
est friction — we should select appropriate agate or 
phosphor-bronze guides; and some 
pretty good imitation-agate guides 
have been marketed, at a material 
reduction in cost from the price of 
the genuine. Very satisfactory, and 
by not a few anglers preferred even 
to agate, is what is known as the 
"Perfection" tip-guide; it is made 
in Denver, by the Perfection Tip 
of file-proof tungsten steel with German- 
silver tube. It is light, neat, and practically inde- 
structible and frictionless. It costs fifty cents. 




Agate angle fly tip 
guides 



Co., 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 



169 



The same concern makes also of similar material 
splendidly efficient and durable butt-guides, and reel- 
guides that may be attached to a 
cross-bar. For the other (interme- 
diate) guides on your fly-rod you 
want a standing form of guide that 
is called the " snake " guide, and 
these to be of steel and not of Ger- 
man-silver, which latter soon is 
grooved by the friction of the line. 
Snake-guides were once an English 
innovation but long have ceased to 
be a novelty, being almost univer- 
sally used today on all makes of the highest-class 
rods; both in appearance and utility they are 
a great advance over the old ring-and-keeper de- 

* 4 3 2 I I/O 2/0 3/a 




Perfection " steel 
tip-guide for fly-rod 
(enlarged) 




Modern steel snake-guides and old ring-and-keeper device 

vice. The line is not so likely to foul them, and 
it renders much more freely through them, so that 



I70 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

the cast as well as the length of life of the line 
both are thereby influenced favorably. There is 
one remaining convenient use for the ring with 
keeper — that is to attach one at the butt of your 
rod just above the handgrasp, to hook your fly into 
when not in use. 

Our illustration shows how these snake-guides are 
numbered according to their gradation in size, from 
3/0 up to 5. They may be purchased from almost 
any tackle-house for about twenty cents a dozen. 




Agate (German-silver mounted) light " Tournament " casting-guide 

Reference to a previous illustration, " Guide and 
winding layout," will show that the fly-rods of nine 
feet and over carry twelve of these guides; and from 
butt to tip we use them in this order and in about 
these sizes : 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, i , i , i/o, i/o, 2/0, 2/0, 3/0. 
For eight-foot rods, use two guides less and space 
them as follows, beginning at the butt-end : Bottom- 
guide is 17/4 inches from butt of rod; from its center 
to center of bottom intermediate-guide, 9% inches; 
next space, 9 inches; then 8^, 7^^, 7/4, 6%, 6%, 6%, 
5%, 5, and 4/4 inches respectively. 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 



171 



'' For the bottom-guide on the fly-rod, the author 
uses the light " Tournament " agate-guide, as pic- 
tured, which vom Hofe cataloged as size number 
10, and which used to cost 
thirty-five cents (there was a 
smaller size, number 9); and 
for the agate tip-guide, vom 
Hofe's tubular form, %4 inch in 
diameter, costing thirty cents. ^ 
Another neat English device is 
an agate angle tip-guide, with 

. J . , . English agate angle fly tip- 

two legs, made to wind on in- guide for winding on 
stead of to be cemented. Abbey and Imbrie, 97 
Chambers, New York, have carried these, at fifty 
cents. The same firm had also a similar device 
in a larger size, but all in bronze, the guide-ring 
turning within its encircling wire loop, which they 
sold for forty cents ; they are nice for mounting bait- 
or troHing-tops. 

For the short, bait-casting rod, we have adopted 
the layout shown below (Fig. i), all of the guides 




3rfBk= 



■/<^ 






■//X-- 



/o"- 



Fig. 1 — Guide layout for short, bait-casting rod 

being attached to the top-joint. The bottom-guide 
is of the same style as that selected for the fly-rod, 
but in the larger size, number 12. The agate tip- 



8 We note again that all these are pre-war prices. 



172 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



guide is vom Hofe's " West- 
ern offset " style, %4 inch 
in diameter (number 2/0), 
priced at forty cents. The 
same size in the " Dowagiac " 
pattern was sold at thirty-five 
cents. The two intermediate 
guides are the same maker's 
" Improved " or one-ring cast- 
ing style, numbers i and o re- 
spectively; price nine cents each. Abbey and Imbrie 
used to stock phosphor-bronze revolving-center 




Agate 



' Western " 
tip-guide 



3/0 
6/64 



casting 








4/0 
7/64 



3/0 
8/64 



2/0 

9/64 



1/0 

10/64 



12/64 in 



" Dowagiac " pattern agate casting tip-guide 



guides mounted like these one-ring casting-guides; 
the idea of the revolving-center feature is that the 
line will draw equally against all sides of the ring 
and so will eliminate grooving. They are quite as 
effective as agate-guides and much less liable to 
breakage. 



WINDINGS AND GUIDES 



173 




O >^ 1 ^ 2 >5 3 

German-silver " Improved " one-ring casting-guide 

Some anglers would prefer to locate the bottom- 
guide of the bait-casting rod a few inches ahead of 
the ferrule, rather than at the fer- 
rule as shown in Fig. i above; and 
they would use only one intermedi- 
ate guide between that and the tip, 
placing but three guides on this rod, 
in all. 

In order to permit equalization 
of the strain on two sides of the top- 
Agate stirrup-pattern joint, the guidcs may be attached in 

casting tip-guide . . 

pairs, alter the usual manner em- 
ployed in the heavier, surf-casting rods (Fig. 2); 
in this case the tip-guide should not be offset but 




"1^" - 



/S"^ 



■->^ 



-0 



Fig. 2 — Paired guides 

should be one of center alignment, stirrup pattern, 
as shown. Abbey and Imbrie sell it, size number 
3%, for sixty-five cents, in agate; in imitation agate, 
thirty-five cents. 



ROD-MAKING: 
HANDGRASP AND REELSEAT 



CHAPTER IX 

ROD-MAKING: HANDGRASP AND 
REELSEAT 

The handle of a rod is termed the handgrasp. 
It preferably is made of superimposed perforated 
disks of sohd cork, cemented together and upon a 
common core, and then trimmed to shape and 
smoothed up with sandpaper. In most instances 
the core is the lowermost section of the butt rod- 
joint itself, but whether or no, the usual practise is 
to incorporate the handgrasp with its adjacent reel- 
seat inseparably with the butt-joint. 

In contradistinction to this, the author wishes to 
emphasize at once his hearty agreement with the 
plan advocated by the late Henry P. Wells, of fitting 
to the rod an independent grasp, chiefly for its emi- 
nently practical value in preventing the rod from 
becoming permanently bent or set under unusually 
severe strain of casting or the playing of a heavy 
fish. With this arrangement the whole rod may 
be rotated at the handgrasp ferrule, so that it may 
be used either with the guides underneath or on its 
upper surface, the reel always remaining properly 
seated, on the under side of the reelseat; and the 
maximum strain thus is transferred alternately from 

177 



178 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

one side of the rod to the other. A further inno- 
vation made by Mr. Wells (the law was his voca- 
tion though angling was his loved avocation) con- 
sisted in shaping the grasp more perfectly to the 
grip of the hand than had been the custom; and 
this whole device, combining the two distinctive fea- 
tures of separability and shape, has since been known 
to anglers as the " Wells grip." 

It is true that a rod so built is increased In weight 
to the extent of the added pair of ferrules which are 
necessary for the seating of the butt-joint within 
the handgrasp — perhaps three-quarters of an ounce. 
But it is weight in a good place; furthermore, this 
may be offset by use of the extremely light yet very 
serviceable fly-rod reels that are available today, 
and by dispensing with the solid reelseat of metal in 
favor of simple reel bands, the so-called skeleton 
reelseat. 

A metal reelseat is altogether unnecessary in the 
rod adapted for fly- and the lighter bait-fishing, and 
again, the inclusion of all this " tin " certainly adds 
nothing in elegance of finish to such a dainty con- 
trivance. When it comes to the short, bait-casting 
rod, with the strenuous reel work that is imperative 
in its use and the manifest advantage here of some 
form of locking reel-band, that is an entirely differ- 
ent story, and we welcome the metal reelseat as a 
most appropriate feature of the rod, under these 
conditions. . 



HANDGRASP AND REELSEAT 179 

Not only do we prefer the specially-shaped and 
independent grasp, but we like it very well when 
made of our common native red cedar — for the 
lightest rods and except for prolonged use. This 
makes a very attractive handle, as cedar is very 
light, is easily worked into shape, is of a pleasing 
color, takes a beautiful polish, and does not show 
soil after use. It affords the best material for the 
reelseat, whether or no the grasp itself be made of 
cork. 

The pattern of grasp that we shall illustrate fits 
the hand nicely and we shall therefore be at some 
pains to give the exact dimensions, and to explain 
just how it, with the reelseat, is built from one piece 
of wood. 

You should, some months previously, have gone 
to the woods and chopped down a small cedar tree, 
which you have had ripped at the sawmill into boards 
i^^ inches thick, and which since then have been sea- 
soning against the time when you would be ready 
to make use of them. Your grasp you now pro- 
ceed to carve out of a piece of this cedar, 1V2 inches 
square and loH inches long; and it is not difficult, 
as already intimated. 

The thing first to do is to bore a hole in the end 
that is to receive the female or socket ferrule, before 
any attempt is made at shaping the wood. The fer- 
rule size at the grasp, for a ten-foot rod, is Viq 
inch, but the hole must receive the outside ferrule. 



i8o THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



and its outside diameter is ^%2 inch. You will need 
for this job a drill-bit, which you can obtain — with 
a square shank for use in a brace — in this diam- 
eter; the wood-boring bits are more coarsely graded 
in size than are drill-bits. For the nine- or nine and 
one-half-foot rod, the handgrasp ferrule is % inch, 
and you want a ^%2-inch drill-bit for 
boring for its handle socket. 

Place the piece of cedar in the 
vise at such an angle that will enable 
you to sight conveniently along the 
bit as you stand and bore; and bore 
slowly, and as straight as possible 
down the center of the wood, to the 
required depth. 

Now you want to find out just 
how nearly you have succeeded in 
centering that hole. To do this, 
take your butt-joint or any straight 
stick that will serve — winding the 
end with thread if necessary for a 
snug fit — and thrust this down into 
the cedar block to the full depth of 
the boring. Next sight along your 
joint or stick and see if you have it 
properly aligned with the grasp. 



: I 



wood grasp Most Hkcly you will find that the 
present condition of affairs is that represented in 
Fig. I — you have quite a decided angular deflec- 



HANDGRASP AND REELSEAT 



i8i 



tion between joint and grasp, despite all your care 
to have that hole straight. In order to correct 
this, by accurately centering the joint In Its socket, 
you must plane the cedar block down to one-Inch 
square. In the manner Indicated by the dotted lines 
of the Illustration. You then sight along another 
of the surfaces of the block, adjoining the surface 
first marked as shown, and plane again as may 
be necessary to straighten up the other two sides. 
Now your hole is centered, and grasp will line with 
rod. In all positions of rotation. 

Withdraw the joint and you now are ready to 
shape up your grasp. Cut a pattern of cardboard 
or stiff paper to conform with the diagram. Fig. 2. 




Fig. 2 — Wood grasp 

The diameters are as follows, to which you can gauge 
the finished grasp with a pair of calipers: At B, 
one inch; C, %; D, iy32; E, ^ie; F, %. Distances 
are: A — G, io^/4 Inches; A — B, i Inch; B — C, 
34. C — D, 2; D — E, 2%; andF — G, 3%. Lay 
this pattern on two opposite faces of the cedar block 
and trace the outline in pencil. Place the block in 
the vise and cut away the wood with a chisel, from 
A to F, down to the penciled lines. Then trace the 



1 82 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

outline on the two remaining surfaces, and cut away 
similarly. Next saw the part from F to G down to 
a full /'i-inch square. You now have the whole 
thing in the shape shown in Fig. 3. 



y//////W/'/y>/^/y////^//y>y/^ 




Take your jack-knife and cut away the corners 
equally, till the whole grasp is reduced from the 
square to an octagonal shape on cross-section. 

Next we seat the female ferrule. Before cement- 
ing this, get a winding-taper or -check (A, Fig. 4) 
that fits nicely over the ferrule and up against the 
welt; fit this over the thin edge of the wood, around 
the mouth of the hole in the grasp, mortising it In 
flush with the wood by filing a recess to receive it, 
with the triangular saw-file, and cement it in posi- 
tion. This will guard against sphtting of the grasp 
as you force the ferrule into it; but for the first 
attempt, it will be safer to seat the ferrule in the 
cedar while in block form before starting to shape 
the grasp. You now can melt some cement, spread 
it evenly over the whole outside of the ferrule up 
to the welt, as you hold it over the flame with a pair 
of pliers, taking pains the while not to get any on the 
inside; then thrust it into its hole, and by pushing 
down hard against the floor or the solid door-jamb. 



HANDGRASP AND REELSEAT 183 

using your whole weight, quickly force it home to the 
welt. 

Great care should be taken to have the hole posi- 
tively accommodate the ferrule, though snugly, mak- 
ing use of a round (rat-tail) file to enlarge the bor- 
ing if necessary to this end. The ferrule expands a 
bit on heating, and if the hole be too small the fer- 
rule will stick before reaching the whole distance 
down into the grasp. Meanwhile the cement has 
cooled and thickened, and the only way that you 
now can remove the ferrule without injury is to split 
off the wood, making it necessary to begin all over 
again. Be encouraged however in your persever- 
ance to have the grasp right, by the knowledge that 
when once completed one of these independent han- 
dles can be used for several different rods for the 
use of one angler — a nice insurance furthermore 
against the borrowing of your pet rods. 

Finally, round up the whole with the convex sur- 
face of a wood-rasp or coarse file, followed by num- 
ber 2 and then number i sandpaper; mount the 
reel-bands and fit the butt-cap. The sliding reel- 
band should have a milled raised edge to grip with 
the fingers. The German-silver butt-cap and reel- 
bands selected by the author are % inch in diameter, 
and were obtained from the T. H. Chubb Rod Co., 
of Post Mills, Vermont, at a total cost of forty-six 
cents. Before cementing on the cap D, (Fig. 4), 
and in order to seat the reel securely, file a flat sur- 



i84 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

face on the side of the reelseat that corresponds with 
the line-guides when grasp is jointed to the butt in 
the position, with relation to rotation, that gives 







3) pmMKTSRS 



Fig. 4 — Wood grasp 



the most perfect alignment of grasp and butt-joint. 
It is a good plan to glue a little piece of leather 
to this flat surface for the reel-plate to jam against 
when the reel is seated; a strip of an old hat's sweat- 
band is just the thing. 

The completed grasp will appear as represented 
in Fig. 4. A Indicates the taper hugging the ferrule- 
welt, B is a band that largely is ornamental and may 
be dispensed with, C is the reel-band proper, and D 
is the butt-cap. 

But when it comes to a real fighting Implement, 
and for continuous, prolonged usage, there Is noth- 
ing in the same class with a solid-cork grasp for 
the rod — not a mere veneer of cork; and to make 
one of these you may proceed as we now will direct. 

If you purpose making an independent grasp, first 
you construct a short bamboo-section, not tapering 
but of the same thickness throughout, and of the 
proper size, when rounded, to receive snugly the 



r 



HANDGRASP AND REELSEAT 



185 



handgrasp ferrule, which is both cemented and 
pinned to one end of it, as shown in Fig. 5. 



-g/<ATaog> co/fe 



• r£RR{^A£ 



Fig. s — Independent cork grasp 

Bore a short piece of cedar and shape its end to 
receive a metal taper, just as in making the all- 
cedar grasp; then slip this over the bamboo-core 
and up against the ferrule-rim (welt or shoulder) 
and cement it fast, as seen in Fig. 6. Next slip 
on and secure with glue or ferrule cement suc- 
cessive cork-ring sections sufficient for the needed 




Fig. 6 — Cork grasp 

length of the actual hand portion of the grasp. 
'Cement them in place, several at a time, and 
allowing these to set before putting on the next 
installment. Jam the last ones you are placing, 
firmly against their predecessors by putting the bam- 
boo-core between the vise jaws and pushing the cork 
up against the ends of the jaws; then tighten the 
vise and leave things awhile. It is a good idea to 
have the grain of each disk of cork to cross that of 
its neighbor. 

These cork rings or solid disks that you can per- 



i86 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



i 



forate as required, may be had of selected quality 
from your tackle-dealer, or you can utilize the best 
of large corks obtained from the paint or drug store, 
such as are used for gallon cans or for the wide- 
mouthed vaseline bottles. To perforate these, you 
file a cutting edge on the end of a brass ferrule or 
other piece of metal tubing of suitable size; you 
either may fit this with a handle, or secure it in the 
vise by means of your wooden holder (see chapter 



TiEEL^eAT r 



ff™ 



4-l-l-f 




Fig. 7 — Cork grasp 

on " Ferrules ") and bore the hole by turning the 
cork backward and forward against its sharp end. 

Finally, make a cedar reelseat of similar style to 
that described above, but with a hole, an inch or 
more in depth, bored into its front end for fitting 
that over the other end of the bamboo-core and up 
against the hindermost cork-ring, where it is glued 
into place and reinforced by insertion of a piece of 
the pointed end of a small brass escutcheon-pin. 
Your cork-ringed fly-rod handgrasp now will be in 
the state indicated by Fig. 7. It remains to finish 
up the reelseat, including the mounting of reel-bands 
and butt-cap, as already detailed, and to work the 
cork part or grasp proper down to shape as shown 
by the dotted lines of the above illustration. A file 



HANDGRASP AND REELSEAT 187 

cannot well be used here — it would tear the cork 

— and the result Is accomplished, after shaving to 
approximate shape with a sharp thin knife- or razor- 
blade, with sandpaper wrapped about a round stick 
of about five-eighths inch in diameter. This is man- 
ipulated with an oblique sliding and turning motion 

— slide it away from you as you turn toward you. 
Finish by twisting the grasp within a fold of fine 
sandpaper held snugly in the left palm. 

The process employed is somewhat different for 



lEtB^^a 



C " V..F 

Fig. 8 — Cedar grasp for bait-casting rod 

the bait-casting rod. Here the grasp is not remov- 
able, and because of the increased strain on the 
handle of this rod, the butt-joint should extend down 
inside the grasp to within two inches at most of 
the butt-cap, this part of the joint first being filed 
down to a uniform size. In this rod the reelseat 
is placed above the grasp. A pattern for the handle 
of cedar Is shown in Fig. 8, one piece of wood extend- 
ing from A to I. G — I represents a German-silver 
reelseat, slid over and cemented to its cedar-core. 
This reelseat has a simple but effective locking reel- 
band (H) and It was obtained from James Heddon's 
Sons, of Dowagiac, Mich., for one dollar. The 



1 88 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

ridge at E projects between the first and second 
fingers of the rod-hand, insuring a secure grip and 
obviating the necessity for the somewhat ungainly 
forefinger " trigger " (hook) with which many bait- 
casting rods are equipped, as indicated by the dotted 
lines at F. A is the butt-cap; B, the end of the 




Fig. 9 — Cork grasp for bait-casting rod, with mushroom butt, and 
finger-hook or trigger attached to reel-band 

butt-joint. Measurements are; A — G, 5% inches; 
G — J, 4% inches; C, lYs inches; D, ^%2 inch. 

We rather favor a solid-cork grasp for this rod, 
and like one with a cedar butt-cap of a mushroom 
shape (Fig. 9). A shaped cork-grasp for a bait- 
casting rod — and any other individual parts of 
their standard models — may be purchased from 
the Dowagiac people; and not only the individual 
cork-rings or solid disks, already mentioned, but 
cork-grip handgrasps, in a more or less finished state 
and in a variety of patterns, are obtainable from 
most of the larger tackle-houses. 



ROD-MAKING: 
VARNISHING AND FINISHING 



CHAPTER X 

ROD-MAKING: VARNISHING AND 
FINISHING 

The prime requisites of a good rod-varnish are 
that it should possess a maximum degree of elasticity 
and form an efficient protecting coat against the pene- 
tration of moisture into the pores of the bamboo. 
A varnish that dries too hard chips easily and soon 
will crack under the repeated flexion of the rod. A 
" special " rod-varnish need not be sought, as the 
specifications are met in any of the best brands of 
spar varnish, put up by a number of the bigger var- 
nish houses, such as Berry, Crockett, or Murphy. 
The author has more recently used Valentine's " Val- 
spar." 

Varnishing should be done in dry weather, pref- 
erably on a clear, snappy day, or on a warm day 
with little humidity. If this is not sufficiently ex- 
plicit, have your wife or sweetheart pick out for 
you what she says is a good wash-day. And you 
should varnish indoor, in a warm room with air as 
free as possible from floating dust particles, A 
small camel's-hair or ox-hair brush, of the kind that 
we used for gluing (the same brush will do, if it 

191 



/ 



192 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

was thoroughly cleaned), suits our present purpose 
likewise. 

As already has been mentioned, the writer applies 
the first, diamond windings and the initial coat of 
varnish soon after the rod-joints are glued up and 
dry. No attempt then is made to flow it on, but 
care is taken to have it worked thoroughly into and 
around all of the silk-windings, using short strokes 
of the brush in all directions. For this coat, the 
varnish may advantageously be thinned with turpen- 
tine — but not adding more than twenty per-cent — 
for better penetration of the silk; and likewise for 
the second apphcation, which includes only the sohd- 
wrappings about the guides and ferrule-ends, etc. 
When at this take care not to gum up the exposed 
metal parts. Dilute the varnish but Httle, if at all, 
for the subsequent coats. To insure a good flow, 
have it warm while in use^ by standing its container 
in hot water. 

A satisfactory way of keeping varnish for future 
use, after the original can has been opened. Is to 
transfer it to a wide-mouthed bottle, which must 
be kept tightly corked; to be on the safe side against 
evaporation and thickening, cover the exposed part 
of the cork with melted paraffine. 

Spar varnish being an elastic varnish, dries neither 
as hard nor as soon as does coach or cabinet var- 
nish; some kinds of the latter may be rubbed within 
a few hours following a fresh application on a good 



VARNISHING AND FINISHING 193 

drying day; but spar varnish should be given a day 
or two between coats before any attempt is made 
at rubbing-down. Varnished work will dry quickest 
out-of-door, in clear, dry weather and a brisk wind; 
but in order to escape the dust as much as possible, 
your rod-joints must be hung up inside for at least 
the first four or five hours, until dried dust proof; 
and hang them well away from the wall, else the 
varnish may " creep." 

It is the practise of the author to apply five or six 
coats of varnish, in all, after the following manner: 
First, two thin applications, as explained above, 
given with circular or oblique strokes around the 
joint; two additional coats covering all, flowed on 
carefully and evenly by brushing in long, quick 
strokes lengthwise of the joint. W^e then have the 
silk sufficiently protected to permit of rubbing the 
varnish down without injury to the windings. This 
we now proceed to do, lightly and cautiously this 
first time and with increasing vigor after each of 
the succeeding two or three coats. 

Some would object to so many coats of varnish 
on the ground of their being deleterious to the action 
of the rod. We think that such criticism is alto- 
gether theoretical, and that a much more practical 
point is that moisture penetrating the rod-wrappings 
and the pores of the bamboo is the great foe to the 
life of the rod and to the maintenance of its elastic- 
ity, and that a generous coating of the right kind 



194 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

of varnish furnishes the surest protection against 
this. 

To rub down, use powdered rotten-stone — from 
drug or paint store — on a small square of canvas, 
or felt from an old soft hat, wet with cold water; 
this makes a fine brown mud with which you scrub 
the joints lengthwise between the thumb and fingers 
of one hand, while the other twirls the joint to and 
fro. When the rubbing is completed, rinse the joint 
thoroughly with cold water squeezed out of a small 
fine sponge. It is a good plan to let the water run 
with force, directly from the tap, on the parts about 
the guides. Complete the cleaning by wiping with 
the sponge just damp. Then wipe with a dry soft 
cloth and swish the joint a few times in the air com- 
pletely to dry it. Have it perfectly dry before ap- 
plying any more varnish, and be sure that the rotten- 
stone is thoroughly cleaned with a bit of rag from 
under and around the guides. Powdered pummice- 
stone and water may be used for rubbing the var- 
nish coats that follow the first use of the rotten- 
stone; but at the first attempt at finishing a rod, 
perhaps you had best confine yourself to the rotten- 
stone. 

In finishing the cedar handgrasp or any cedar 
parts, follow the filing and coarse sandpapering by 
using number i paper, then number o, rotating the 
grasp forcibly between a fold of the paper held 
tightly in the palm of the left hand. After a good 



VARNISHING AND FINISHING i95 

smooth surface is obtained, apply water with a 
sponge, to raise the grain of the wood; when dry, 
make a second application of fine sandpaper and 
elbow-grease; give now two coats of varnish; rub 
down with pummice-stone and water; apply a third 
coat of varnish; rub with the wet rotten-stone or 
with linseed oil and rotten-stone; give a fourth and 
last coat of varnish, very lightly. 

For the last finishing-touches both on joints and 
handgrasp, rub with a bunch of curled horsehair 
(see the upholsterer), then with a little " Three-in- 
One " oil applied with a soft rag, then with a buck- 
skin glove or piece of chamois-skin or felt, then with 
an old silk-handkerchief; and in conclusion, apply 
as much hand-friction with the heel of your palm 
as your inclination and perseverance will allow. 
The ultimate result is that you have produced on all 
a smooth but not glassy finish, that is not dulled by 
handling the rod — whose subdued luster is very 
durable. "The whole rod now requires but an occa- 
sional rubbing with the silk-handkerchief arid a few 
drops of oil, and the apphcation of a single light 
coat of varnish about every second season if used 
regularly. 

At last, my Brother of the Angle, your rods are 
completed in every fascinating detail — and if they 
do not appear as the illustrations depict, and are not 
a delight to your eye and a joy to your hand, it is 



196 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

not because the writer has failed to tell you, so far 
as mind can recall, every blamed thing that he knows 
about this business. Suspend them from the tip, 
safe from the kiddies' curious investigations, feast 
your eyes soulfully upon their charms, and, upon 
occasion, you even may take them down and fondle 
them lovingly; then, when the first feathered har- 
bingers of the coming Spring begin their blithesome 
twitterings — and not till then — haste you now to 
rig them up and experience that exquisite thrill of 
their feel in action, as you test them out on the near- 
est piece of greensward, if a suitable stretch of water 
be not conveniently accessible. And you now may 
say, " as one having authority," if you think that an 
honestly hand made Split-Bamboo is worth its price; 
and if you agree with me that the building thereof 
is a poem, the perusing of which is a thing well cal- 
culated to assist in passing profitably many an hour 
in delightfully novel and restful diversion, oblivious 
to carking cares. 




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CULTIVATING SILKWORM-GUT 
AT HOME 

By Edwin T. Whiffen 

(By kind permission of the author 
and of Forest and Stream) 



CHAPTER XI 

CULTIVATING SILKWORM-GUT 
AT HOME 

By Edwin T. Whiffen 

After a little experience every angler with the fly 
who is in the habit of studying the problems that 
constantly confront him recognizes the Importance 
of concealing the connection between the line and 
the lure. Such a connection is established by means 
of the leader, consisting usually of silkworm-gut im- 
ported from Spain. Now the desirable qualities in 
a leader are strength, fineness, and unobtrusiveness. 
This last essential depends upon color, absence of 
luster, and of any small peculiarities which serve to 
call attention to any particular part of the leader. 
In its ordinary state, the Spanish gut offends against 
all three just-mentioned qualities; its color is ob- 
trusive, it possesses a shine that makes it a target 
for every eye, and the frequent knots mean just so 
many points to distract the fish's attention from the 
object of the angler's special interest — the artifi- 
cial fly. The shine may be removed by one of the 
processes known as " drawing," that is, taking off 

199 



200 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

the outer layer of the gut by means of sandpaper; 
but this unduly weakens the product. The leader 
may be artificially colored, and this also is usually 
a weakening process. The knots, like the poor, we 
have with us always. 

As a result of the study of these conditions, I be- 
came convinced years ago that a substitute for the 
Spanish-gut leader was a matter of desire for the 
angler. 

As the Spanish " gut " is the product of the silk- 
sacs of the Asiatic silkworm, the idea naturally pre- 
sented itself of endeavoring to substitute a larger 
caterpillar, and one with larger silk-sacs, for the 
insect from which the Spanish gut is derived. This 
substitute was sought for in the various American 
bombycid (family bomhycida) or silkworm larvae. 
Of all our American varieties, the caterpillar spin- 
ning the largest cocoon is that of the cecropia moth 
{Platysamia cecropia). The general color of this 
moth is a rusty red or brown; this is the color of the 
head and foreparts. It has a distinctive white col- 
lar; the abdomen is reddish, and has bands of black 
and white; the wings are grayish with bands of red 
and white extending across them. A characteristic 
is the transparent membrane or eye-spot which is 
found on the fore wing; a whitish crescent or kidney- 
shaped spot marks the rear wings; and the whole 
wing has a clayish-brown edge. The antennae or 
" horns " are broad and feathery, those of the male 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT aoi 

being much more so than those of the female and 
thus furnishing an easy means of distinguishing the 
sexes. 

The full-grown cecropia caterpillar averages from 
three to four inches in length but when very large 
may measure nearly five inches, is moderately stout, 




Cecropia caterpillar 

and of an apple-green color. On the various seg- 
ments of the body are tubercles or shot-like append- 
ages mounted on the ends of little stalks. On the 
second, third, and fourth segments these tubercles 
are of a coral color; on other segments they may be 
blue or black. The head is green with black mark- 
ings. These features characterize the full-grown 
worm. 

Next in size as a spinner of cocoons is the Teiei, 
polyphemus. The polyphemus moths are nearly as 
large as those of cecropia, and they vary in color 



202 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

somewhat more than the latter moth. The general 
impression is a reddish or yellow, furry brown, with 
black scales peppering the wings, on which are cross- 
bands of red or pink, white, and gray. On each 
wing is the typical eye-spot, and a transparency sur- 




Polyphemus caterpillar 

rounded first by a lightish brown circle, and by a 
black ring outside of this. Like the cecropia, the 
sexes are distinguished by the difference in breadth 
of the antennas. The color of the bodies is a dark 
or light tan, and the forepart has a gray band. The 
cocoon IS ovoid In shape, when first spun looking as 
if dusted over with lime; later the color is brown. 
The caterpillar spins on practically the same kinds 
of bushes or trees as the cecropia. In the spinning 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 203 

process, the worm does not break the thread to form 
a means of egress at the front of the cocoon, as the 
cecropia does; hence the long thread may be reeled 
off, and might furnish a valuable fiber. The film 
when thus unwound from the cocoon has a beautiful 
silver tint, and is surprisingly strong for its size. 

The caterpillar reaches an extreme length of three 
Inches or little more, and it is plumper for its length 
than the cecropia. The general color is blue-green 
on the back and yellow-green on the sides. Yellow 
tubercles are found on the back and sides, arranged 
In hnes. 

A caterpillar much resembling polyphemus is luna 
{Actias liina) . The line on the anal plate is yellow, 
instead of brown, and the worm Is of a different 
shade of green; and thus may be readily distin- 
guished. It spins a thinner cocoon, and probably 
has little value as a gut-producer. 

Among the smallest of this class of the moths is 
the Callosa'mia promethea, whose method of attach- 
ing its cocoon distinguishes this phase of Its exist- 
ence from the preceding varieties. A handle, like 
an umbrella's, securely holds the cocoon to the twig 
or leaf-stem. This Is a pretty little moth, but the 
results of my experiments with It go to show that as 
a producer of gut it is a failure, the strand being 
small, short, and weak. 

An Imported variety, from China, is the cynthia 
or allanthus silkworm. Its cocoon and method of 



204 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

attachment resembles those of promethea. It pro- 
duces a slightly longer and larger length of gut. 

As a fact, none of the American silkworms are 
worth bothering with as gut-producers in comparison 
with cecropia; although I have secured fairly good, 
stout strands of gut, four or five feet long, from 
polyphemus. But my experience has been that a 
small cecropia caterpillar produces as much gut, and 
of a better quality, than a large polyphemus; while 
a big cecropia is unapproachable in this respect, yield- 
ing a strand of gut from six to nine feet long, round, 
smooth, of a suitable color, lusterless, and knotless. 
Polyphemus is not worth raising if cecropia can be 
obtained. 

By hunting, available material for the cultivation 
of these worms may be obtained in the shape of 
moths, cocoons, eggs, and caterpillars, the cocoon 
state being on the whole the most satisfactory. In 
length, the cecropia cocoons vary from somewhat 
over an inch (very small) to three inches (very 
large). Some are slender and compactly spun, 
others are loosely spun and baggy. They vary in 
color, when fresh, being brownish, and when weath- 
ered, somewhat silvery. They are more pointed 
at one end than at the other. Careful examination 
of this pointed end shows that the threads were 
broken and then puckered together in the process 
of spinning. The cocoon usually is attached to the 
side of the twig, branch, tree-trunk, or stalk on which 




Polyphemus moth 
— oncquarter 
life size 



Promethea — 
half-grown worm, 
adult, and 
new cocoon, 
on one bush 




HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 205 

the caterpillar has chosen to spin. The caterpillar 
may elect to spin on Its food-plant, or It may wander 
away and spin on almost any suitable stalk or twig. 
Its cocoon has been found on maple, willow, wood- 
bine, oak, plum, elder, wild cherry, splcewood, apple, 
pear, nettle, wild hemlock, sumach, allanthus, and 
other varieties " too numerous to mention." 

It Is worth while to look almost anywhere In a 
locality In which cocoons are being found. Usually 
there Is more or less of a little colony discoverable 
where a single cocoon has been discovered. You 
may pick a cocoon plastered to the trunk of a tree 
at Its very root, or attached to a shoot but a few 
Inches from the ground; then as you glance up you 
notice the brown, baggy bunch thirty feet In the air, 
spun alongside the tip of the twig. No place is too 
unusual or insignificant to be overlooked, though one 
soon develops a special sense In searching. 

Your equipment for cocoon-hunting need not be 
elaborate. There are some things that are helpful. 
If not really necessary. You can put in your pocket 
the cocoons that you find, if you wish, though there 
is danger of crushing them; a bag or a box of some 
kind is better. If you are abroad in the Spring, 
when the moth Is laying Its eggs, some little paper or 
tin boxes will make good receptacles for your 
" finds." In the same season you will need larger 
boxes In which to put any moths you may capture, 
and a net will be necessary for taking the specimens. 



2o6 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

In Summer or early Fall, the caterpillar season, some 
boxes large enough to hold your captures without 
crushing them will be advisable. As for clothing, 
wear the oldest and toughest you have. It is not 
especially conducive to the beauty of head-, foot-, or 
body-gear to go crushing through bushes, briars, and 
shrubs, over bogs and swamps, or to crowd up trees 
and into other places difficult of access in which 
some caterpillars seem to have taken a fiendish de- 
light to spin. An umbrella with a crook for a handle 
is helpful in pulling down branches or twigs just out 
of one's unaided reach, where frequently fat cocoons 
are attached. A fish-line with a weight on the end 
is serviceable for bringing down those branches a 
little too high for the umbrella. If you are work- 
ing among trees of any size, a long pole with a 
triangle-hook attached will enable you to reach 
cocoons spun by worms of the most aspiring spirit. 
• The most valuable item in your equipment you will 
not be able to take with you at first — a general abil- 
ity to distinguish good territory from bad and to 
" smell out " every specimen in the locality. 

Let us suppose it is Fall or early Winter, and you 
are hunting cecropia and polyphemus. You should 
follow along the road or street studying carefully 
the trees and shrubbery. Luckily enough for the 
hunter, cocoons as a rule are not found in high, dense 
vegetation or inside of groves or woods. Circle 
around the outside of such places, studying carefully 



I 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 207 



every tree and shrub, low or high. Examine any 
tuft of leaves or protuberance on twig or trunk. 
Pass over nothing that at all suggests what you are 
in search of. Sometimes it is a good plan to study 
a clump of bushes or a tree from one direction and 
then slowly circle it so that the light will be thrown 
on the leaves and limbs from various angles. 

If you are in the street, you may collect a small 
crowd anxious to see " what the gink is rubberin' 
at," but a true explorer never pays any attention to 
little things like that. A vacant city lot which has 
many or few bushes, stumps with sprouts springing 
from them, little, weazened trees that almost apolo- 
gize for living, sometimes yield surprising finds. A 
lane in the suburbs with trees and bushes on either 
side furnishes good hunting-ground. If there is a 
wall on either side with a vine of some sort grow- 
ing upon it, you may find that careful search will 
reveal brown, baggy bunches that prove to be cecro- 
pia cocoons. Patches of scrub white-birch or spice- 
bush should always be carefully examined, as such 
places often harbor many cocoons. 

Cocoons may be hunted for at any time after the 
spinning season until the warm Springtime weather 
causes the moths to emerge from the cocoons. As 
soon as possible after the falling of the leaf is the 
best time, as certain birds tear apart the cocoons 
and eat the tender pupas within. Places in the cities 
and suburban towns are usually more productive of 



2o8 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

results to the cocoon-hunter, not necessarily because 
there are more cocoons, but because the cocoons are 
more in view and closer together on account of there 
being fewer trees and shrubs to attract the female 
moth as it lays its eggs. Almost the best place of 
all is a field with numerous scattered clumps of wil- 
low, maple, spice-bush, or alder; these usually are 
small and accessible. The adult moth, on its egg- 
laying mission, seems to find dense vegetation a 
hindrance and hence avoids it. 

The caterpillars probably do not stay many feet 
from the spot where they hatched from the egg; 
indeed, the worm may pass all stages of its life- 
history and spin its cocoon on a single shrub. Some- 
times such unpromising spots as backyards are well 
worthy of search. The egg-laying function of the 
moth is compulsive and the eggs must be laid wher- 
ever the parent may chance to be at the proper time 
of depositing them. It has from two hundred to 
six or eight hundred eggs to dispose of in a compara- 
tively short time, and cannot afford to be too nice 
as to the character of the place where it deposits 
them. 

The American silkworm caterpillars have various 
parasitical enemies, particularly varieties of the 
ichneumon-flies. The adult parasite lays its eggs 
on the body of the caterpillar; there hatch out and 
the tiny worms proceed to eat their way into the body 
of their host, which soon may die. Or the cater- 



Cecropia 
cocoon 
showing 
the details 



Cecropia 
cocoons ot 
different size 
and shape 




HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 209 

pillar may live long enough to perform its functions 
of spinning but then dries up and dies. Or the 
parasite may construct a peculiar kind of cocoon 
within the larger one spun by the host; such speci- 
mens are interesting to the scientist but valueless to 
the one who wishes to rear caterpillars from the 
egg. As a rule, specimens which have not pupated 
are easily distinguishable from good ones. The silk 
of such cocoons is thinner, and when the cocoon is 
shaken close to the ear a peculiar dry rattle is heard; 
a good specimen when similarly treated gives a 
characteristic, unmistakably solid thud. Those spec- 
imens in which parasites have pupated are not thus 
distinguishable; only by opening the cocoon and 
examining the contents can the counterfeit be de- 
tected. It is not well to disturb the pupa in this 
way; it is better to watch carefully for the emer- 
gence of the wasp-like ichneumonides, which should 
be destroyed when they are perceived. 

While the idea of collecting the cocoons and of 
getting a supply of eggs from the moths is unmis- 
takably the best plan, do not be in despair if your 
cocoon-hunt is unsuccessful. You may be able to 
capture one or more fertile females in the Spring, 
which will supply you eggs from which enough cater- 
pillars will hatch to keep you sufficiently busy. For 
this variety of " bug-hunting " you will need a net 
of some light mosquito-mesh, with tin or paper boxes 
in which to stow away your captures. 



210 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

The American silkworm moths generally fly by 
night, and the electric light is hence a blessed insti- 
tution to the moth-hunter. These creatures, some 
of them as large as a small bat, or, perhaps a better 
comparison, as broad as your hand, and of the most 
entrancing beauty in shape, color, and silken flight, 
will throw even the beginner into raptures at their 
sight. Some ahght gracefully and stand slowly furl- 
ing and unfurling their wings, as if pardonably proud 
of their beauty. Some float like a many-hued 
shadow to and fro. In either case a skillful turn 
of the net effects a capture. A morning search is 
sometimes profitable. The moths are occasionally 
found hanging to the roofs or beams of sheds; the 
undersides of bridges, if near lights, are likely places. 
Sometimes you will see the moths bobbing against 
the window-screen from the outside, where they 
may be taken. The cecropia, especially the female, 
throws off a peculiar " animal odor," by which it 
may be tracked to its hiding-place in the daytime. 
This odor is exceedingly strong, almost offensively 
so, and Is carried by the wind to a considerable dis- 
tance; it aids the male to find the female, at the mat- 
ing season. Once smelled you will never forget it. 

At this time of the year, egg-hunting may yield 
fair results. Suitable places evidently are about the 
same as for the cocoons. You should carry along 
tin boxes with covers. In which to place the leaves 
upon which the eggs are found; remove the leaf 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 211 

endre, to avoid injuring the eggs in any way; exam- 
ine both sides of all the leaves of shrubs in a prom- 
ising locality. 

Cecropia eggs are of an ovoid shape. On the 
upper side is a reddish spot, and they are about as 
large as quite small bird shot. The polyphemus lays 
white, brown-banded eggs which are larger than 
those of cecropia. Both species deposit eggs in a 
variety of ways, sometimes singly, sometimes in a 
short row, or in peculiar little masses. 

Last, and least satisfactory of all, is the method 
of attempting to find the caterpillars. They hide 
away so cunningly as to be nearly undiscoverable, 
even when the signs of their presence are unmis- 
takable. Such signs are wholly- or partly-eaten 
leaves and the presence of excrement on the ground 
beneath. Just previous to the actual spinning, the 
worm may crawl along in an excited fashion, as 
though anxious to reach a certain spot on schedule 
time; it may then be found almost anjnvhere, run- 
ning up or down a tree trunk, or along the road, or 
across a walk. Such specimens do not ordinarily 
give a satisfactory strand of gut, as the chances are 
against their having eaten of the kind of leaf that 
results in the best variety of that product. 

In case you have secured a reasonable number of 
cocoons, twenty or so, it is best to put them away 
in a cold place during the Winter. A good plan is 
to place them in a small screen-cage and expose them 



212 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

to the weather outside; the moisture and the cold of 
Winter will not work any injury but will keep the 
cocoons and their contents from becoming too dry. 
If they are not thus exposed, it is well to turn them 
occasionally and sprinkle them lightly with water. 

When the weather becomes warm in Springtime 
and the leaf-buds begin to appear, bring your cocoons 
into a warm room, when the moths soon will begin 
to emerge. If so situated as to be able to have a 
-oom for rearing purposes, the moths may be allowed 
to fly around free from confinement. If a male and 
a female of the same species emerge at about the 
same time, they usually will mate without any diffi- 
culty. After the completion of this function the 
male soon dies, and the female immediately begins 
to deposit eggs. It lays several hundred in the 
course of a few nights, and then dies too, neither 
sex living more than a week or ten days. In case 
a female or females alone should emerge from the 
cocoon stage, a mate must be secured if the eggs are 
to be fertile'. This is done by exposing the female 
out of doors, either in a screen-box with large inter- 
stices or else by securing her by tying a length of 
woolen yarn about her " waist," the other end of 
this tether being made fast to prevent her escape. 
The former method is preferable, as bats and birds 
are fond of a tender moth. If you place the captive 
moth outside the window, be sure that it is on the 
side of the house opposite to the direction- in which 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 213 

the wind is blowing, so that the scent may be carried 
farthest and be most likely to attract a mate. If 
your attempt is successful, the evidence usually will 
be found in the presence of the male in the morn- 
ing. 

The fertile female moth should be placed in a 
pasteboard box with ^ cover, such as a shoe box, 
where it will " get busy " and plaster every avail- 
able place with eggs, at the same time battering its 
beautiful wings pitifully. As soon as all the eggs 
of a moth have been deposited, on the sides, bottom, 
and cover of the box, with a sharp knife remove 
them on a little bit of the paper, being very care- 
ful not to crack the hard, shiny shells, as they will 
thus be spoiled. Put the eggs, thus removed, into 
tight tin-boxes or glass jars (Mason jars), and put 
the covers on tightly unless you wish to find wander- 
ing baby caterpillars, looking for " something good," 
scattering over the neighborhood. At all times, but 
especially when they are small, should tight recep- 
tacles for your worms be supplied, as they will go 
through a pin-hole, with several feet to spare in 
every direction, for they are great roamers. 

The hatching period may be as short as seven days, 
but usually is ten days, or even more if the weather 
is cool. Shortly before hatching, the eggs become 
quite dark in color; then the little " darkies " eat a 
hole and crawl out, soon looking too large ever to 
have been able to get into so small a compass. 



214 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

Their appearance should have been carefully 
watched for, and food leaves have been supplied as 
soon as the little, black worms were seen. The 
freshly-hatched cecropia caterpillar is about a quar- 
ter of an inch long, black, and with little black 
bristle-like tubercles. Occasionally I have had 
freaks in a brood, such specimens being a deep yellow 
- in color. Any kind of leaf which the young cater- 
pillar will take is suitable food for the first three 
stages of its existence; one year, when I had a brood 
hatch early in April, I fed them on the leaf of some 
perennial shrub which supplied the only " garden 
sass " then available. I have seen it stated that the 
young Asiatic silkworm may be fed on lettuce for a 
few days, till better food may be obtained, but my 
experience with the young American silkworm is just 
the contrary; broods coming out before the leaves 
opened have " turned up their noses " at tender let- 
tuce and stolidly succumbed to starvation. 

Apple, pear, currant, peach, plum, berry of all 
kinds, bay, hard and soft maple, mountain laurel, 
apricot, may be fed to them, some broods preferring 
one kind, some another. They eat voraciously, with 
a peculiar movement; supporting themselves by the 
false legs or props on the latter half of the body, 
and grasping the edge of the leaf with the sharp- 
pointed true legs, they raise the head and set the 
mandibles into the edge of the leaf, then bring the 
head slowly down, at the same time cutting the leaf 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 215 

away with their rapidly-moving jaws — somewhat as 
the barber's instrument " dehaired " our locks just 
before the summer vacation, " to keep the boys 
cool." After a full meal the caterpillar rests awhile, 
digests its dinner, and then goes at it again. No 
wonder they grow like pigs ! 

In a few days the caterpillar's size has so increased 
that its skin is too small and must be exchanged for 
a larger one; in fact, the larger one already is devel- 
oping. The caterpillar then "moults"; it refuses 
all food and ceases to move about, remaining still as 
if dead. If lightly touched, it jerks from side to side 
to testify its displeasure at being disturbed. It 
should be treated with great care as it is very easily 
injured at this time. Do not touch it with the hands 
at all if you can possibly help it; lift it, if necessary, 
by the leaf or twig to which it clings. Indeed, at 
all times handle your worm like Izaak Walton's 
frog, " as though you loved him; " the tender skin 
is easily torn, then infection may set in and death 
follow. 

After a period of two or three days thus spent, 
the caterpillar is ready to moult. The mask-like 
headpiece may be seen hanging down in front of the 
face; and the colors of the caterpillar are dingy and 
dirty. Then the worm begins to wriggle ; the old 
skin splits near the head, and the caterpillar, bright 
and fresh as though newly enameled, crawls out — 
like an emblem of the resurrection. Sometimes the 



2i6 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

" mask " attached to the head is not shed with the 
rest of the skin and must be carefully removed. 
After the first moult the caterpillar regains its 
original color. 

At all times be careful to have the receptacles for 
your worms scrupulously clean; every day remove 
the wilted leaves and dead caterpillars and thor- 
oughly clean their quarters with a stiff brush, taking 
out every particle of dirt. Do not pull the cater- 
pillars from the old leaf; put the fresh leaves into 
the cage and the worms will leave the old for the 
new, and the old ones may then be removed. A few 
fine drops of water should be sprinkled on the leaves 
every day, which the caterpillars search out and 
slowly drink them; but do not put in enough water 
to saturate the air in the receptacle. As for the 
receptacles or cages themselves, small tin-boxes will 
do well enough at first, but glass jars are better as 
their rounding bottoms are more easily kept clean. 
Give your specimens plenty of room, putting only 
a few into one cage unless it is very large. While 
the caterpillar has no objection to eating in the dark 
and under any circumstances can " get its hand 
to its mouth," I prefer a transparent cage, as then 
I can more readily keep track of the progress of the 
inmates. These cages may be nearly air-tight as 
worms respire very little. 

Dry, roomy quarters are essential to prevent the 
development and spread of certain fungoid diseases. 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 217 

If conditions are not right the caterpillar loses its 
appetite; its plump, firm appearance is changed to 
a thin and watery one; its skin cracks, and a whitish 
mold appears which soon kills the diseased worm. 
Dead or sickly specimens should be removed at 
once; and the cage should be thoroughly scalded 
and dried to kill any remaining germs. A little pre- 
caution, taken every day, will prevent such disastrous 
happenings and assure the successful maturing of 
the brood. 

While I have been writing, the caterpillars have 
been feeding and growing; in a week or so they have 
developed sufficiently to be ready for the second 
moult. The process of resting, cessation from feed- 
ing, and shedding of skin is repeated; after this 
moult the color is distinctively yellow, and the larger 
tubercles are apparent. The worms should now 
be thinned out, some in each cage being transferred 
to another. Always be sure that the new receptacle 
is clean. Remember, the conditions of success are 
two: perfect cleanliness, and sufficient food of a 
proper kind; under these conditions the caterpillars 
thrive like young chicks. After a somewhat longer 
period of feeding — and they will keep you busy 
gathering leaves — they moult for the third time. 
At this stage their heads are green with black mark- 
ings; the bodies have become yellow and have two 
rows of black dots running from " stem to stern ". 
The large black, red, and yellow tubercles might 



2i8 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

cause them to be thought in the final stage; but they 
now crave more food than before and fairly cram 
themselves with the leaves supplied to them. At 
this stage you should begin feeding the leaf suited 
to insure the very best quality of gut. I have found 
this to be, first, fleshy, juicy leaves from the plum 
tree, and a close second, the prickly leaves of the 
long blackberry, which the caterpillars munch down 
with much gusto. You ought to have left, in spite 
of accident, disease, and death, at least half or two- 
thirds of your hatching, or some two hundred or so 
healthy and flourishing crawlers. Listen as they 
eat, after you have put in fresh leaves for them in 
the morning; the sound will remind you of a gentle 
fall of rain in Summer. 

If they ate before, they cram, gorge, distend, stuff 
themselves now. In a week or ten days they should 
be ready for the final moult, from which they emerge 
hungrier than ever. Their color is much as before, 
but the size of the head seems enormous. In a week 
or ten days more they have grown to be four or five 
inches long and are very plump and sleek; then they 
cease feeding and prepare for the important process 
of spinning. First they empty the digestive system 
entirely, excreting a thick, syrupy fluid. Up to this 
time the excrement had been fairly firm, and this 
marked change in its consistency is an indication that 
spinning may be expected soon. 

During the last stage it is a good plan to put the 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 219 

worms out of doors to feed, selecting the most suit- 
bale food-plant for them, as I have thought that the 
gut produced by this treatment was of superior qual- 
ity. Whether that idea is fancy or fact may be de- 
batable; but this I do know, that it is much easier 
for the one who has the job of looking after it to 
bring the worm to its fodder than to bring its fodder 
to the worm. They may grow somewhat larger in 
this way, as there is never any lack of food; and 
especially at this stage they eat so fast that they need 
feeding two or three times a day, instead of only 
once as during the previous moults. Now, and espe- 
cially when I had large numbers, I have sometimes 
used small branches with their leaves placed in Ma- 
son jars containing water; although I found a ten- 
dency on the part of the caterpillars to crawl down 
after a drink and so drown themselves. My usual 
method of feeding has been to put the loose leaves 
(cut or torn on the edges when the caterpiller is 
small) right into the cage, and to change food at 
least once a day. Some labor can be saved by using 
this plan of putting the twigs with leaves into bottles 
or jars containing water; but to prevent the untimely 
loss of some of your " star boarders," wind wool 
or tie cotton around the twig just above where it 
enters the neck of the bottle or jar, so that all sui- 
cidal actions may be frustrated. Once I matured a 
brood of cecropias by means of the " branch-and- 
bottle " method, on the top of a square piano; the 



220 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

jars tipped over sometimes and the water ran down 
into the " inwards " of the Instrument, but it was 
only the piano that suffered — the worms thrived. 
When, then, you find the soft, fluid excrement in 
the cage you may know that one or more of the cater- 
pillars soon will begin to spin. The worm shortens 
somewhat, as the body-cavity contains little except 
the empty digestive system and the sacs with the 
fluid silk. These are two, long, transparent tube- 
like organs, each about eighteen inches long, of 
about the diameter of a steel knitting-needle, and 
curiously coiled and involved in the cavity of the 




SICK OAC SPINMCIttTX 

Section of Asiatic silkworm (enlarged) showing silk-sac and spinnerets 

body. At their front ends they connect with small 
tubes or spinnerets through which the caterpillar 
forces the fluid silk in shaping the material with 
which it spins. The spinning process is a most in- 
teresting one. When it is imminent the caterpillar 
crawls restlessly around, seeking a suitable place, and 
a short film of silk may be seen hanging down from 
Its mouth. If you want to keep some cocoons over 
Winter for the next season, put the prospective spin- 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 221 

ner by himself Into a glass receptacle with a few 
leaves, and watch proceedings. 

After satisfying itself that it has selected a suit- 
able place, the caterpillar firmly grasps a twig with 
the false legs or props, and with the true legs on the 
forward part of the body pulls the ends or sides of 
leaves together. Then the head moves up and 
down, back and forth, a film of sticky silk meanwhile 
gripping the leaves and holding them together. 
The worm works industriously, and soon the gen- 
eral outline and size of the cocoon appear, half- 
hidden in the leaves. In a few hours the caterpillar 
has spun sufficiently to hide itself from sight. If 
you wait a week or so and then carefully open the 
end of the cocoon, you will see an interesting sight; 
in place of the caterpillar, which was the last living 
thing observed in the cocoon at the beginning of the 
spinning process, a brownish pupa is seen, being a 
sort of case containing the embryonic organs of the 
future moth. Most of the cocoon, inside of the 
closely-woven exterior, will be a mass of fluffy silk- 
filaments surrounding a hard inner case, apparently 
lined with some compact, gum-like substance and 
containing besides the pupa the cast-off skin, now 
shriveled, brown, and crowded out of the way into 
the back of the cocoon. 

Of course you will want to draw the gut from most 
of the worm's which you have raised. The first im- 
portant matter is to know the right time for the 



222 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

operation. After a little experience you will be able 
to tell by the film hanging from the caterpillar's 
mouth that the worm is what is technically known as 
" ripe; " but until that proficiency is developed you 
will more safely wait until the spinning has actually 
begun. Then prepare the solution in which to 
pickle the ripe worms. The proportions are : a suf- 
ficient quantity of vinegar (depending upon the num- 
ber of worms ready) into which put enough salt to 
make a saturate solution, diluted with the same quan- 
tity of water. The salt should be put in the vinegar 
and thoroughly stirred until all the salt possible has 
been dissolved. Pour off the vinegar, leaving the 
undissolved salt, and then add the equal quantity of 
water. I have thought that vinegar in which the 
" mother " had formed was best for the purpose. 
You need not prepare more than a cupful ordinarily, 
as the caterpillars will ripen only a few at a time; 
and many of them may be pickled in one solution be- 
fore it is used up. The purpose of the pickling 
process is to toughen the silk-sacs sufficiently to per- 
mit of their being pulled out. Into the solution, 
prepared as above, put whatever worms may be 
ready to spin, first tearing them across the back at 
about a quarter or a third of the distance from the 
head; but do not entirely remove or separate the 
torn portion of the worm. 

While the pickling process is proceeding let me 
say that some have drawn gut without putting the 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 223 

worm into a solution of any kind. I have tried this 
method on cecropia and polyphemus, but with un- 
satisfactory results. I am not denying the possi- 
bility of doing it; I merely am stating my own ex- 
perience. I try a few worms by this method from 
every brood that I raise, and hope some day to be 
successful. My experience has been that the un- 
pickled sacs are too weak to permit of being drawn 
out in this way; however, I will describe this method 
in hopes that it may be useful to others. Take a 
board from six to nine feet long. Pin the worm 
securely to one end, putting one pin through the 
" tail " of the animal and two more about a third 
of the way back from the head. With a sharp knife 
cut off the anterior part back nearly to the two pins. 
Take a large pin and dip it into the silk and carefully 
draw out as far as the fluid silk will go, and fasten 
each strand with a pin; a cecropia caterpillar has two 
silk-sacs and yields two strands of gut. Let the gut 
thus drawn out dry in the shade for several days. 
I have read that a method like this has been suc- 
cessfully tried in France; but I must confess that I 
do not enjoy the experience — neither does the 
worm. Very likely the caterpillar could be killed 
or stupefied by some means before the pinning was 
done. 

The method which I employ has at least the merit 
of being more merciful. After the worm has 
pickled for about half an hour I examine and draw 



224 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

out one end of a sac; and if it is strong and firm I 
continue the drawing process. If there is a sug- 
gestion of weakness I continue the pickling process 
fifteen or twenty minutes longer. I am convinced 
by experience that the precise moment for pulling 
out the sacs is a highly important consideration. If 
the pickling has been too short, the gut, while ap- 
parently strong and of good quality, seems to be 
lacking in the proper consistency; on the other hand, 
if the pickling is carried too far, the resulting strand 
is lumpy, and the lumpy parts while looking strong 
are really the weakest. 

I do not feel that I can describe the exact point 
for drawing at which results are likely to be the best, 
though I could easily show to another the silk-sac 
when it had the proper consistency to assure them. 
But I will attempt a description, as even a poor one 
may be of some help though experience and observa- 
tion are the best instructors. At its best condition 
for securing results, the sac on being removed from 
the body of the worm has a peculiar whitish appear- 
ance, not soft or mushy and yet not hard like a string 
of glue. The strand when pulled out suggests in 
appearance a tendon or " cord," such as is found in 
meat before cooking it — it has a peculiar, " glairy " 
look. This color becomes somewhat opalescent on 
drying and later may turn even dark brown. 

Having satisfied yourself that the sac is properly 
pickled, work quickly, since there are, as stated, two 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 225 

strands to every worm and the pickling process must 
not unduly be prolonged. On the shady side of the 
veranda or of the house stick a pin into the clap- 
boards and tie to it securely one end of the sac. 
Then take the other end of the sac in the fingers or 
tie it to another pin and draw the gut out to its full 
length. If any parts of the sac are not fully drawn 
out these will be lumpy and weak when the gut is dry. 
Fasten the end of the sac just drawn out and allow 
it to dry for several days. While the gut must be 
stretched far enough to keep it from being lumpy, a 
little allowance must be made for contraction in the 
drying process; so ease up an inch or two before 
both ends of the gut are made fast. I have had 
very good success when the gut was drawn on a 
rainy day and the strands became moist and slack; 
in such circumstances I have thought that the gut was 
peculiarly strong. But at all events keep it out of 
the sun, and if it contracts so much as to pull out the 
pin at either end, refasten with the tension eased 
up somewhat. In a day or two you usually will find 
that you have a variety of colors; some will turn a 
dark golden-brown, some may have a bluish tint, 
others will be light like a washed-out rootlet or 
fiber, and still others will approximate in shade the 
ordinary Spanish gut but will lack the " shine " 
which the latter unfortunately possesses. 

Restrain the tendency to use the freshly-drawn 
gut too soon; although it may be fine in texture and 



226 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

apparently strong, it should thoroughly mature for 
several days or even weeks, for best service. Once 
properly prepared, it will give good use for years. 
I have in my possession two leaders drawn ten years 
^go> yet they still are reliable. 

I had to learn by experience that a careful matur- 
ing of the product is essential to success. On one 
occasion I had drawn several hundred leaders, but 
they were placed in a tin box before they were dry 
and were stored in a damp place ; on examining them 
several weeks later I found about twenty of them 
still good, but the rest had become ruined from 
mildew. 

Do not expect that every leader you draw out will 
be a good one. The Spanish gut sold in this coun- 
try is but a small part of the total product, and not 
one strand in a hundred is perfect. So, much of 
your product will come out flat and weak, like the 
inferior strands of Spanish gut, due perhaps to im- 
proper pickling, the wrong kind of feed for the 
caterpillar, or to an unhealthy worm. A consider- 
able number will be of fair strength, testing to three 
or four pounds, and sufficiently strong for brook- 
trout fishing; and occasionally you will get a fine speci- 
men, long, round, and strong enough to hold a bass 
on fly tackle. 

Naturally the strands will require testing to se- 
lect the good from the bad. Tie a loop in one end 
of the strand and attach it to a hook or nail in the 




Cecropia moth, which in Hfe may have a fivcinch wing 
spread 

Two of Mr. Whiffen's oncstrand, home'grown Cecropia 
leaders, six feet long 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 227 

wall. Give it a moderately strong pull, holding by 
the other end. If the strand breaks easily or near 
the middle, it usually is wise to discard it, although 
it may be fine in texture and apparently strong; yet 
I have had strands break near the middle in this 
way, which on being fastened together by loops 
made successful leaders. The thin end usually is 
the weakest part and may break off a few inches at 
a time till two feet or more have been removed. 
Now take those that stand this preliminary test 
successfully and give them a more severe one. Take 
a milk bottle, for example, and put enough water in 
it to make it weigh say three pounds; then attach 
the strands to be tested and see if they will raise, 
one at a time, that weight. If they do they are 
strong enough for trout-fishing with light tackle. 
If you desire to select any leaders for bass fishing, 
some which will show a greater strength, study very 
carefully the leaders you have just tested and take 
the largest, strongest-looking strands and with your 
milk bottle filled to five- or six-pounds' weight, test 
them again. A fair proportion of the gut drawn 
from a brood of cecropia worms should stand this 
latter test. 

With regard to those leaders that have " come 
through," you will have a product from six to nine 
feet long, of a slight taper, uniform in consistency, 
even in color and strength, and which in appearance 
will surpass the Spanish fine drawn-gut. 



228 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

In one respect the Inferiority of the American 
product must be admitted; I have not yet succeeded 
In producing a strand of gut that will test to ten or 
twelve pounds, as I understand an occasional strand 
of Spanish gut has done. Still, the extreme length 
of the Imported article Is eighteen to twenty Inches, 
while the native product is three or four times as 
long. Strands tied together are not as strong as the 
single one, because the knot Is the weakest part of 
the leader; therefore a leader testing up to eight or 
nine pounds is a very strong one. It is not improb- 
able that a better variety of food, or a different 
pickling solution, or a careful breeding of worms to 
secure desired qualities, may produce an article su- 
perior to anything which I have been able to get, thus 
far. I have gone about the matter In an amateurish 
way and have produced results far exceeding my 
first hopes. 

I consider the field a promising one. A first-class 
salmon-leader, for instance. Is listed at five dollars, 
and is the product of several Asiatic silkworms. A 
cecropla strand of equal length and testing up to 
four or five pounds has been produced. As already 
noted, a cecropla caterpillar has two silk-sacs and 
yields two strands of gut. It Is possible, therefore, 
that with really scientific study and manipulation one 
cecropla worm might produce ten-dollars' worth of 
gut. If one caterpillar in a hundred did, the oc- 
cupation of raising them would be profitable. The 



HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 229 

raw materials — cocoons, moths, eggs, or caterpil- 
lars — cost nothing to collect, and at present very- 
little to buy. Surely some person of more scientific 
bent than myself, with persistence and research, will 
work out a product which will be the best of its kind. 



LANDING-NETS AND OTHER 
EQUIPMENT 



CHAPTER XII 

LANDING-NETS AND OTHER 
EQUIPMENT 

In Oppian's Halieutica, a poem of the second 
century A. d., the outfit of the perfect angler is 
summed up in the following couplet : 

The slender woven net, the osier creel, 

The tapering reed, the line, and barbed steel. 

Brethren, I would invite your attention for a few 
minutes to the consideration of that net. 

Ever had it catch in the brush, stretch Its rubber 
loop to the limit, then let go and, zip ! soak you one 
in the back? or dangle, whether at the front or side, 
where you continually are getting tangled up in it, 
or where your flies become caught therein with a 
devilish persistency? Sure! Then you vowed that 
henceforth you would proceed netless and beach 
'em, only to encounter immediately thereafter that 
biggest trout of all, in a deep, dark pool, with beach- 
ing possibilities " forty miles away " — and you lost 
him ! Right-o ! 

Any reader who, like the writer, ever has lost 
three landing-nets in four-seasons' trouting, will be 
interested to learn that a most serviceable article is 

223 



234 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

easily to be achieved at practically the cost of the 
netting itself and of a little time and easy labor, the 
chief requisite for the frame being a bit of discarded 
common telegraph-wire. In bending the wire to 
shape an iron vise is of assistance, likewise pliers, 
and some hard flat surface, like a piece of iron, to 
hammer the wire against. 

For a short-handled frame, the whole seventeen 
inches long, make the handle part about five inches 
long and have the bow about eight inches at the ex- 
treme width. Make it somewhat triangular In shape 
with an almost straight front side. This is a good 
shape at any time but particularly advantageous for 
scooping up minnows. To this end also have the net 
fine-meshed; and make the frame double across the 
front so that one wire will serve as a guard to pro- 
tect the lashing-cord against contact with bottom 
stones. 

This net is light, effective, and it slips easily into 
the fishing-coat left pocket through the opening at 
the front edge of the garment. There it is securely 
carried, entirely out of the way, yet easily accessi- 
ble when wanted. (By the way, we wonder if the 
reader is " wise " to those sleeveless fishing " coats," 
possessing all the advantages of the old-time article 
but ever so much cooler on a hot day.) If this 
net is dropped it will sink to the bottom and there 
Is some chance of reclaiming it In running water. 
Or, for added security, a cord about three feet long 



LANDING-NETS AND EQUIPMENT 235 




Showing how to put the frame together 

may be tied to the handle and fastened at the other 
end to a coat buttonhole. 

Two pieces of wire, bent in the forms shown in 
Fig. I, are bound together with strong cord as il- 
lustrated in the photograph, the wire ends at the 
winding points being beveled with a file. 

If a longer-handled net is desired, bend your two 
pieces of wire as shown in Fig. 2, bind together, and 
fasten to them a handle made from a piece of old 
broomstick, so that the whole is thirty-four inches 
long. The wire is riveted to the handle, a copper 
:washer being next the wood at either side and also 



236 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

outside the wire under the rivet head. Make the 
openings for the rivet holes by bending the wire 
around a nail and then jamming it up tight in an 
iron vise, the jaws gripping close to the nail. Have 
the part of the handle that comes between the wires, 
of a triangular, wedge shape — the back represent- 
ing the base of the triangle — so that it will wedge 
and hold firm when the handle is extended with the 
net in use. A buttonholed piece of leather is at- 
tached by a small brass screw, through a copper 
washer, to the wooden handle just below the position 
of the rivet, by means of which this form of net is 
suspended from a button or hook that fastens the 
left breast-pocket of your flannel shirt or is attached 
in the vicinity of your left coat-lapel. And the three- 
foot piece of safety-cord may be used here also. 

To prevent the net from dangling below the frame 
when folded, fasten a loop of cord to the bottom of 
the net, and slip this loop over the part of the 
handle which projects beyond the rivet joint; it will 
be checked at the leather hanger, but will release it- 
self automatically when the handle is extended. 

When either frame is completed, a coat of green 
paint may be applied. 

Now that this net problem is solved, let us con- 
sider for a little some other items of the angler's 
equipment that make for safety and comfort. 

Among these is a small rain-cape or poncho, that 
will at least cover the shoulders but need not extend 




The author's net 

Cravenetted (waterprooO hat with cork half- 
disks sewed to band for carrying flies 



LANDING-NETS AND EQUIPMENT 237 



Shoulder poncho 

much below the bend of the elbows. Such a garment 
is easily fashioned. 

Get two yards of five- or six-ounce close-woven 
khaki duck, costing (when this was written) about 
thirty cents a yard. Cut and sew it together as in- 
dicated on the accompanying diagram. Allow a lit- 
tle for seams, in cutting. The seam across the 
center should be a lap-seam composed of the sel- 
vedges. The edges at the circumference are hemmed. 
After basting the halves together by hand, have the 
seams and edges finished on a sewing-machine. 
(Possibly you are on good enough terms with your 
wife, or somebody else, to ask her.) The completed 
cape is thirty-six inches from back to front, by forty- 
four inches wide. It will reach to just below the 
end of the elbow and does not interfere with cast- 
ing. (While keeping it short in front it might be 
lengthened to below the waist in the back, for better 
protection when stooping or bending over.) 



238 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

The center slit for the head is twelve and one- 
half inches long, and is sixteen and one-half inches 
from the front edge of the cape. It is reinforced 
by an extra piece of the goods three inches wide, 
sewed on the inside (shown in illustration). The 
edges of this piece and of the cape at the slit are 
turned in and sewed together. 

Corresponding to this reinforcing piece but 
slightly larger, and sewed along but one edge — and 
half-way across at the ends — is the collar, three and 
one-half inches deep at the center and four inches 
at the ends. It is fastened to the outside of the cape 
as Indicated by the dotted lines. 

When the sewing is completed, melt one-quarter 
pound of paraffine shavings in a tin vessel (placed 
in a second vessel containing boiling water) and 
mix thoroughly with one pint of turpentine. Allow 
the whole to remain in the hot water bath, while ap- 
plying it with a clean paint-brush to the outside of 
the cape. Dry the cape in the air. It may show 
streaky, but you can drive the paraffine into the 
cloth fiber and distribute it evenly by pressing the 
garment with a hot iron. A smaller proportion of 
melted beeswax sometimes is incorporated with the 
paraflSne in such waterproofing operations. 

Anyone with the least experience in camping will 
know of what paramount importance it is that you 
clothe yourself in woolen underwear. It need not 
be heavier than medium-weight, but it should be of 



LANDING-NETS AND EQUIPMENT 239 

wool. Even in midsummer it can be very chilly in 
the mountain altitudes that the angler haunts, after 
sundown especially; and it can be chilly at any time 
after a ducking in the stream, in the wind, with cot- 
ton next the skin. By the way, where the water is 
unusually treacherous, don't hesitate to cut a piece 
of sapling for a wading-staff. 

Your hat should be an old felt one, with a brim 
for better protection from the sun and rain. This 
same paraffine solution will waterproof that hat too, 
but it will need a few ventilating windows at the 
sides; or it may be " cravenetted " or given a dose of 
lanolin. A handy thing to go around the hat is a 
leather or woven band to which cork half-disks are 
sewed for sticking flies into; or the band may have 
riveted to it strips of metal carrying little clips. 

When next we shall have considered the angler's 
footwear, these include about all the essential articles 
of clothing that pertain especially to the fisherman; 
though we might add the general suggestion that 
no article of outer wear should contrast too strongly 
with his surroundings. This would give preference 
to such subdued colors as gray and yellowish- or 
greenish-browns. 

To wear waders, or not to wear waders? 
Whether 't is best to discard them and get boldly 
wet, without any idea of trying to keep dry, or 
whether we shall encase ourselves within these air- 
excluding mackintoshes and stew in our own sweat 



240 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

— regardless of the fact that one is almost certain 
to go " over the top " — that is the question. 

There are three factors to be considered: foot- 
hold, dryness, and locomotion. If waders — either 
mackintoshes or hip-boots — are used, you must 
have hobnailed wading-brogans to wear over the 
feet of the one, or leather sandals with hobnailed 
soles or some similar contrivance for the feet of 
the other. Screw-calks are an advantage over hob- 
nails, which have a faculty of becoming loose and 
dropping out when the sole leather dries after long 
soaking. These calks may be transposed as re- 
quired, those wearing down quickest being moved 
to another part of the sole and replaced by some less 
worn. In addition to the woolen stockings next the 
skin, a heavier pair also are worn between wader 
and brogan, to ease the chafing of the former. 
These sometimes are turned into the tops of the 
brogans, making a double layer where the raw-hide 
lacings (keep them well greased) are drawn around 
the ankle at the tops of these shoes; but a better 
scheme, because keeping the sand from getting be- 
tween stocking and wader, is to pull the outside 
stockings up to full length and to secure the tops 
around the wader with a rubber-band. You can 
get these rubber-bands — and useful for so many 
other purposes — by cutting them from played-out 
auto-tire tubes. 

The banana-peel can assume no airs in the presence 



w 




Cutting across country 



--ife, 






^^^^^""■-l 




The ford at high water 



LANDING-NETS AND EQUIPMENT 241 

of a rock covered with slimy moss. A dangerous 
fall in or along the stream may prove no light mat- 
ter for the lone angler, far from camp or farmhouse. 
A simple emergency expedient is to wrap strips of 
canvas or burlap or bind pieces of rope around the 
feet of rubber boots. Sand works into the meshes 
of the cloth and gives it a good gripping surface; 
or a pair of woolen socks may be worn over the 
boots — while they last. 

Don't neglect to have along with you some kind 
of a rubber-patching outfit. These are sold by the 
tackle-man and also by rubber-goods people; the 
familiar tire-patches and cement will serve the pur- 
pose pretty well. Good waders cost money; we 
wonder why a fellow couldn't make something that 
would serve, of ten-ounce duck — patterning after 
an old pair of boughten goods — having lap-seams 
and being waterproofed with the beeswax, paraffine, 
and turpentine compound or something even better 
for the purpose. 

Waders are all right — generally — when ac- 
tually wading, but are cumbersome to walk in; be- 
sides, walking subjects them to excessive wear and 
tear. And, frequently, as much or more walking 
along stream is done as walking in the water. On 
the other hand, wading without waders is chilly busi- 
ness during early Spring fishing. The only solu- 
tion here is to carry extra footwear in the shape of 
something light that can be shpped into when you 



242 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

desert the stream for a considerable hike over dry 
land, the while you hang the waders around your 
neck. For general hiking, the regulation Munson- 
last army shoes are the thing; and the dope for them 
is one, two, three parts respectively of resin, bees- 
wax, and mutton-tallow, melted together. Never 
dry out wet leather shoes by exposing them to too 
direct and strong fire-heat; fill them with hot sand 
or pebbles. Moccasins or felt slippers are a great 
comfort in camp. 

Many veteran anglers have solved this wading 
problem, in a manner satisfactory to themselves at 
least. The early Spring fishing — except perhaps 
for very short snatches, and not too far removed 
from ready access to a good warm fire indoors — 
has long ceased to appeal to them very strongly; and 
ordinarily from the middle of May on they can keep 
very comfy without waders. They get right in, but 
keep moving and don't stop to rest at any time when 
there is the slightest suggestion of a chill. If camp- 
ing, be sure to dry out thoroughly or change to warm, 
dry clothing before going to bed. The best stimu- 
lant after exposure is hot tea or hot black coffee, and 
warmth. Alcohol generally is better applied out- 
side. 

This reminds us that the hot-water bottle — of 
rubber or the canteen so used — comes in mighty 
handy when accident or sickness occurs in camp. 
You always can prepare the water, and the bottle 



LANDING-NETS AND EQUIPMENT 243 

filled with this and slipped under the patient's 
blanket may add much to his safety and comfort; or 
a hot stone wrapped in cloth may be utilized as a 
substitute. And the device isn't so bad for cold 
nights even for the camper who is perfectly well. 

And don't forget that first-aid kit. It should in- 
clude some compound cathartic pills or cascara laxa- 
tive, two-grain capsules of muriate of quinine, five- 
grain aspirin tablets, " Sun " cholera tablets, a few 
two-inch gauze roller-bandages with small cartons 
of absorbent cotton and sterile gauze, tincture of 
iodine, some needles with catgut sutures in alcohol 
in tubes ready for use, a couple of artery clamps, 
some surgeons' plaster, and a hypodermic syringe 
with a few strychnine, cocaine, and morphine tablets 
for use with same. Before you leave home have a 
chat with your family doctor and make a memo- 
randum of what he says about just when and how 
these things are to be used in an emergency. And 
though you probably will escape the necessity for 
the use of any of them for yourself or your im- 
mediate party, it is very satisfactory when you are 
enabled to play the " friend in need " to some mem- 
ber of another outfit or to some honest, whole-souled 
farmer, far from any source of prompt medical re- 
lief. 

A mosquito-dope that is cleanly, and about as ef- 
ficacious as any, is a mixture of one ounce each of 
creosote, oils of citronella and of pennyroyal, with 



244 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

two ounces of olive or castor oil. The addition of 
a tube of carbolated vaseline augments the wearing 
quality'. For some woods pests the incorporation 
also of three ounces of pine tar increases efficacy, 
but makes it much less pleasant to use. Mix by 
heating the tar and olive or castor oil, then stir in the 
other Ingredients over a low fire until they are thor- 
oughly incorporated. Two good and simple prep- 
arations are: two parts citronella, two parts spirits 
of camphor, and one part oil of cedar; and, the other, 
nine parts castor oil, eight parts sweet oil, two parts 
carbolic acid, one part oil of pennyroyal. A fly- 
dope in much favor with salmon-fishing guides of 
the Gaspe country consists of equal parts of pine 
tar and castor oil with the addition of a little bi- 
sulphide of carbon. All these are good sunburn lo- 
tions also. 

Every article you read that tells about what to 
take with you Into the woods mentions the com- 
pass; but you do not see much note of the pedometer. 
This inexpensive little instrument will add much to 
the pleasure of your outing. It is easily adjusted to 
your individual average length of step, is very reli- 
able — as the writer has proven by checking up 
with his auto odometer — and it is a satisfaction to 
know distances definitely, as the length of certain 
trails or exactly how far you are from the nearest 
post-office, farmhouse, or some other point of spe- 
cial Interest. 



LANDING-NETS AND EQUIPMENT 245 

If not already informed, you will be glad to know 
about those government sectIon-m,aps, to be had 
from the Department of the Interior, that note in 
great detail all the essential features of about al- 
most any section of country that you may be plan- 
ning to visit. 

And don't overlook that flashlight, with extra bat- 
teries. 

" J. A. C", in The American Angler, tells about 
a friend who possessed " a barrel of tricks worth the 
attention of the angling fraternity. I was fishing 
the Concord River, Massachusetts, with him not 
long ago. It was raining; a bully day for fishing 
but a hard day for smoking, which is the special con- 
solation of a wet day out of doors. He was in the 
bow of the canoe and I was trying to paddle just 
near enough to make good casting for both of us, 
myself fishing at the same time and trying to keep" 
a pipe going too. Some job. Every once in a while 
I saw him lean over, open his coat and apparently 
scratch a match on the lining. It looked sensible to 
me, so I tried the same trick. But it didn't work. 
Finally, I asked him how he did it; the matches 
would n't light on the inside of my coat. He turned 
around, opened his coat toward me, and then I saw 
he had sewed onto the lining a bit of rough emery- 
cloth, about two inches wide by five inches long. 
' Great scheme, Jim,' he said." 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 



CHAPTER XIII 
THE ANGLER'S CAMP 

Where the silvery gleam of the rushing stream 
Is so brightly seen o'er the rocks, dark green, 
Where the white pink grows by the wild red rose 
And the bluebird sings till the welkin rings; 

Where the red deer leaps and the panther creeps, 
And the eagles scream over cliflF and stream, 
Where the lilies bow their heads of snow. 
And the hemlocks tall throw a shade o'er all; 

Where the rolling surf laves the emerald turf, 
Where the trout leaps high at the hovering fly, 
Where the sportive fawn crops the soft green lawn, 
And the crows' shrill cry bodes a tempest nigh — 
There is my home — ray wildwood home. 

Where no steps intrude in the dense dark wood, 
Where no song is heard but of breeze and bird; 
Where the world's foul scum can never come; 
Where friends are so few that all are true — 
There is my home — my wildwood home. 

— Edward Z. C. Judson ("Ned Buntline") 
(An Adirondack camp in ante-bellum days) 

Angling leads naturally to camping, because of 
the manifest advantage of being domiciled most con- 
veniently to the waters to be fished; and though con- 
scious of the plethora of printed advice upon the sub- 
ject of camp-life and equipment, we yet have the 

249 



250 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

hardihood to believe we may be able to " hand out " 
a few pointers that will prove neither redundant 
nor altogether devoid of practical value to many of 
our readers. There are things about this outdoor 
game that it is not possible to overemphasize. 

Whenever you project a camping trip, take it 
for granted that you are going to camp in the rain. 
To be sure, it may not rain — but then, again, it 
does. If you are prepared for it, you yet can have 
a satisfactory trip; if you are not, it is absolutely 
and irretrievably spoiled. The first consideration 
is to have your tents actually — not supposedly — 
waterproof, especially their roofs; and if for an 
extended trip, have an additional roof-piece or 
*' fly " to spread a few inches above the tent roof 
proper. 

Of course one does not expect to go upon such 
an expedition in the middle of June, in this latitude, 
and encounter two weeks of the coolest and wettest 
weather that the Weather Bureau has turned loose 
in over forty years for a corresponding period. 
And yet if one of the chief features of the trip was 
to be the testing of the practical qualifications of a 
little homemade shelter-tent, no one may deny that 
the weather served the purpose admirably. — 
Wherefore the story of the tent that " made good." 

The place is the upper waters, in Sullivan County, 
N. Y., of a little river that for recommendation has 
size, beauty, and wildness in great variety, freedom 






--*n.>v..-.r i'. 



< 

O 

o 
< 









THE ANGLER'S CAMP 251 

to angle for miles without Interference, and the pres- 
ence of many trout In Its waters, both native and 
brown, averaging a goodly size, requiring skill to 
attach, and never In primer condition then during 
this season, the early Summer of 19 16. 

The modest Intention of the author, and designer 
of the aforesaid tent, was to produce a creation that 
should embody all the good points of all the good 
tents that had preceded It — and then some. 
Whether or not he succeeded In this particular en- 
deavor, the tent proved a success all right; with the 
addition of a butler's pantry and garage It almost 
might pass for a Newport summer cottage. 

It Is seven feet square on the ground, seven feet to 
the peak at the top of the triangular front side, and 
has an elghteen-Inch wall at the back. It has 
windows fifteen by eighteen Inches, screened by 
cheesecloth, and provided with flaps outside, ad- 
justed by cords; and the door In the front Is five 
feet high above a six-Inch sill, three feet wide at the 
bottom, and fourteen Inches at top. This opening 
also Is protected by a cheesecloth screen-door which 
draws to one side and Is gathered by tapes when not 
In use, and also there Is a regular flap-door, hinged 
at the top and secured when closed by large hooks- 
and-eyes. (De Long "Jumbos." The same like- 
wise fasten the sleeping-bag flaps, presently to be 
noted.) 

The bottom and one side of the door-space, to 



252 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

which the screen-door is not sewed, is made in double 
flaps between which the free edges of the screen- 
door are secured with safety-pins in closing it. 
Edges of screen-door are bound with tape. The 
outer door may be entirely closed, be stayed out in 
front like that of a Frazer canoe-tent, or be closed 
at either side with the opposite side held open. A 
small piece of sapling is run through a pocket at the 
top edge of the door-sill to prevent sagging. 

The material is the best quality unbleached muslin 
— about twenty-five yards of it — tanned by immer- 
sion in a hot decoction of ground white oak bark. 
(Another time we believe we will go in for a green 
color, with " Diamond " household-dye, and will 
use the government airplane cloth, beautiful for 
tents.) The muslin was passed through the solution 
three times, rinsed each time, and hung out to dry 
(thereby greatly arousing the curiosity of the neigh- 
bors). This before cutting. The proportion for 
the dye, as given by Kephart, was two pounds of the 
dry ground-bark to three and one-half gallons of 
water. After chipping the bark into small pieces 
with a hatchet it was ground in a hand grist-mill. 
When dry, the muslin was waterproofed by the alum 
and lead method. This consists in preparing two so- 
lutions, one with three-quarters of a pound of alum 
and the other with the same amount of sugar (ace- 
tate) of lead, each of which is dissolved in four gal- 
lons of boiling soft water. When dissolved, and 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 253 

clear, pour first the alum solution and then the lead 
water together into another vessel. Allow this to 
stand for several hours to deposit sediment, then 
pour off the clear liquid say into the washtub. Soak 
and knead the fabric in this, let it stand an hour or 
two, rinse in clear water, and hang out in the air 
to dry, without wringing. This makes not only a 
pretty effective waterproofing but mildew-proofs the 
cloth, and to no little extent renders it spark proof. 

The weight of the tent material without the 
ground-cloth is a little over five pounds. 

From past experience the writer holds strong con- 
victions that the stretcher form of bed is at once the 
most generally practical and comfortable for camp- 
ing, so he decided to incorporate stretcher-bed ac- 
commodations for two in the ground-cloth, which is 
sewed to the bottom edges of the tent all the way 
around. (Yes, madam, this will keep out wriggly 
and crawly things.) Also he decided to provide 
flaps for these beds, to hold the blankets in place. 
Furthermore, the tent-bottom, in addition to thus 
serving as combined ground-cloth, stretcher-beds, 
and sleeping-bags, also was to be the waterproof 
cover for the whole outfit, when packed; and could 
be utilized as a packsack in which to carry additional 
duffle, as a hatchet or small ax, folding reflector- 
baker, an army intrenching-tool or a miniature 
shovel; and last but not least, a half-dozen old news- 
papers. All this, and in addition two single five- 



254 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

pound army-blankets, which are laid out flat inside 
the tent, on the floor — for packing — and folded 
within it. Thus the tent can be raised in a rain- 
storm without getting a drop of wet on the bedding. 




Ground-plan, of combined tent ground-cloth, stretcher-beds, and sleeping- 
bags: A — Stretcher-pole pockets; B — Pillow straps; C, E — Sleeping- 
bag flaps; D — Lap-seams 

The ground-cloth, complete as described, and 
waterproofed by the parafiine method, is made of 
regulation army ten-ounce khaki duck, three widths 
of which laid crosswise of the ground-plan, came out 
just right after allowing for the lapped seams. 
About eleven yards were required. 

In applying the paraffine, about a pound was cut 
Into shavings and melted on the stove, removed and 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 255 

added to two-quarts of gasolene, on the roof (more 
incitement of neighbors' curiosity — almost pain- 
ful), the whole kept warm and fluid by placing it in 
a basin of hot water. The ground-cloth then was 
spread out and the paraffine and gasolene mixture 
applied hot to the bottom side with a paint-brush. 
It congealed in streaks as soon as applied. Then it 
was hung in the sun and air (neighbors forgotten 
by this time) for three or four hours, and finally was 
ironed with a very hot iron, care being taken not 
to burn it, which gave a uniform, smooth result, 
spreading the paraffine evenly all over and into the 
fabric. 

Some prefer to mix the paraffine with turpentine, 
and yet again, a small quantity of melted beeswax 
sometimes is added. Also there are ready-prepared 
waterproofing solutions, such as " Preservo," etc., 
which you can buy at the camp outfitter's for from 
a dollar up per gallon. Another waterproofing 
process for cotton goods, consists in working pure 
linseed oil thoroughly into it with a brush. As ap- 
plied to a tent, first set it up with everything pulling 
even and taut, and start at the ridge or top and work 
toward the ground. The tent must be left up, well 
exposed to sun and air, for two or three weeks be- 
fore folding it for packing or storage. 

In utilizing the stretcher-bed feature of our tent 
— though it may be used as an ordinary tent, with- 
out this — four saplings, about two and one-half 



256 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

inches at the butt and about nine feet long, are thrust 
through five-inch-wide pockets sewed on the under- 
side of the ground-cloth (for the middle pockets, the 
others being made by folding the edges under) and 
extending from the back of the tent to within about 
a foot of the front edge; a pocket along either side 
of the middle, about sixteen inches apart. This left 
a center aisle, which by sewing in two triangular side 
gores and a rectangular piece at the back, gave a 
trough or gutter between the two beds when the beds 
were raised at the head about ten inches above the 
ground, at the back of the tent. The front ends of 
the stretcher-poles simply were embedded in the 
ground, flush with the surface, and held apart here 
by stakes driven into the ground flush with their top 
sides. Thus one can stand or walk on the canvas 
of the center aisle with the solid ground underfoot, 
when the rear ends of the poles are elevated. 

In setting up, the beds are stretched taut sideways, 
and the poles held apart at the back, by large nails 
driven against their sides and into a thicker, cross- 
pole resting upon stones and atop of which the 
stretcher-poles are supported. They project about 
two feet beyond the tent rear wall. This arrange- 
ment is shown in the photo of the rear of the tent, 
as also are the extension-flaps at bottom of back and 
sides of the tent which prevent wind from blowing 
under the beds when used as stretcher-beds. 

In any form of bed off the ground, the camper 




1 — Inside of author's tent, showing stretcher'bed with flaps and 

blanket, pillow, window, and pockets 

2 — Rear view, with stretcher'beds in use 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 257 

must guard against cold from underneath — that's 
where the chill principally comes from. Banking 
up around the sides with earth and sod, and even a 
thin layer of balsam, hemlock, or pine fans placed 
between the canvas of the bed and the blanket will 
materially help here. 

Of course these stretcher-beds are bound to sag 
some, but to insure comfortable results you hollow 
out the ground under the middle of each bed, a little 
distance each way from where your hips come, and 
for a space about eighteen inches wide by three feet 
long. The old army intrenching-tool does this work 
handily and serves well the purpose of camp shovel, 
in ditching tents, etc. 

A tent invariably should be well ditched, and its 
site should be selected with special reference to 
water draining away from it in the event of heavy 
rains ; also with due regard to convenience of drink- 
ing water and firewood. And don't pitch your tent 
directly under large trees, particularly dead ones, 
or ones with dead limbs that might be blown down 
by the wind and endanger your life. Nearby trees 
are all right, to serve as a windbreak in the protec- 
tion of which your camp is pitched, but the site 
should be well exposed to the sun for a part of the 
day. The ditch generally should extend around 
all four sides of your tent, should be nearly a foot 
deep, and a leader ditch should connect with the low 
corner. A more effective ditch-digger than the in- 



258 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

trenching-tool Is a folding or collapsible shovel. It 
is a mighty handy instrument about camp — so is 
a small cross-cut saw. 

Plenty of trouble, perhaps you are thinking, for 
the sake of comfortable sleeping. Well, son, when 
your uncle is out on a two-weeks' camping trip, if 
there is one thing that he 's going to do it is to sleep 
comfortably or he will know the reason why. It 
is the novice at the game whose specialty is " rough- 
ing it." Your true woodsman certainly has learned 
to accommodate his wants to restricted means, but 
he is the last man to submit himself needlessly to 
harmful exposure and privation. And say, speak- 
ing of trouble, did ever you attempt to make one of 
those all-browse affairs? — make it right and keep 
it so? That is work. And did we sleep comforta- 
bly in our stretcher-beds ? — Did we ? Ask " Denny 
the Axman," sixty-three years young and good for 
a twenty-mile hike any day — he '11 answer. 

In using this tent for only a night or two, the 
stretcher-bed feature need not be utilized; the tent 
being set up with the bottom flat and laid over 
leaves, browse, or grass. In this way It easily will 
sleep three adults. Used for two, luxuriating in 
the stretcher-beds, there is the aisle affording room 
for a small boy or for storage of considerable duffle, 
and also a space at the foot of each bed, as the beds 
are six inches less than the full length of the tent. 
" Next time " we shall increase this fore-and-aft 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 259 

length of the tent perhaps a foot, to gain more stor- 
age-room at this convenient spot. 

One may stand at full height well within the door 
of this canvas woods-dweUing, for changing clothes, 
etc., and he has headroom to sit up in his bed; yet 
the walls are so steep that a good quality of un- 
bleached muslin, treated as stated, proved effectively 
waterproof, even if the m'aterial was rubbed against 
on the inside. And our house is well ventilated, 
both because of the windows and as the alum and 
lead process does not seal the pores of the cloth 
while conferring protection from the wet. The 
writer and his tent-mate " Denny " — and may every 
camper have his equal for wearing qualities — 
weathered on this trip a continuous thirty-six-hour 
downpour which raised the river twenty-two inches, 
higher than it reached in early Spring. 

But not yet have we exhausted the catalog of the 
virtues of this little tent. On the inside of its rear 
wall are four pockets, and there are two more on 
either side-wall, alongside the heads of the beds, for 
miscellaneous articles of clothing, etc. The curious 
" swellings " of the accompanying illustrations show 
that they were appreciatively utilized. 

Across the top edge of the rear wall and from 
thence extending from the rear corners to the peak 
is a continuous piece of braided cotton-rope, with 
small galvanized thimbles at these corners. This 
rope-triangle bears all the chief strain of the ropes 



26o THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

holding the tent, and it is sewed to the inside of the 
roof at its edges. About two feet from the peak 
it is left unattached for a space to admit of the in- 
sertion of a pothook for suspension of a Stonebridge 
folding candle-lantern (never go into camp without 
one, and use the extra hard plumbers'-candles that 
will burn for hours with a minimum of drip). 

The main guy-ropes are two single ropes leading 
from the top corners of the low rear wall, and a 
much longer double rope leading from the peak over 
a pair of sapling shears and secured at either side 
out in front; and the shears leave the door unob- 
structed. By easy manipulation of these shears and 
of the tautening-sticks placed under the rear guys, 
slack quickly is taken up when required. 

The weight of the completed ground-cloth is about 
ten pounds, making fifteen or sixteen pounds for 
the completed tent; and twenty-five or -six pounds 
for the whole outfit, including ten pounds of blankets, 
which one man readily may carry in a packstrap 
while his companion lugs the cook-kit and the grub. 

Oh, about those newspapers ! The added weight 
is insignificant, and spread out between the blanket 
and the canvas, under and over the sleeper, they are 
effective for much added warmth in chilly weather. 
During prolonged wet weather you will appreciate 
more than ever the value of woolen underwear for 
the woods, even in Summer; and also the desirability 
of a warm, dry, comfortable bed. Sheepskin bed- 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 261 

slippers are another great comfort; so is a sleeping- 
hood at times. Another pointer on the theme of 
keeping warm in extra chilly weather: The time 
that most you will feel the cold is about three A. M., 
and the place will be your back, between waist and 
shoulders. A sheepskin vest may be bought for 
four or five dollars and is a good investment — 
either way you look at it; and it 's nice for automo- 
biling in Winter, especially for the doctor when he 
gets up out of a warm bed in the early hours to face 
the chill blast. If, in addition to the observance of 
these suggestions, you carry to bed with you the hot- 
water bottle mentioned in the previous chapter, and 
should you chance to have along a down quilt to curl 
up in inside your blanket — well, you may realize 
that you can be comfortable even in a tent, in the 
woods, and in the rain. Of course it requires fore- 
thought and the application of brains and ingenuity; 
and while the latter may be some other fellow's or 
a composite of some other outdoorsmen's, the fore- 
thought must he yours. Down quilts, though un- 
deniably bulky, are extremely light; and you can 
economize both in bulk and cost by dividing one full- 
sized quilt into three parts, each of which will afford 
good back protection for one sleeper; or a feather 
pillow will serve as the makings of such a pad. For 
very severe weather, though, there is nothing In the 
tent line equal to one in the baker style, left open In 
front, and whose slanting back-wall reflects down on 



262 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

its occupants the heat from a good fire built out in 
front. 

Other little details of our tent are a doormat 
(yes, sir!) made of an extra piece of duck, fifteen 
inches by three feet, secured at the front of the aisle 
just within the door by hooks-and-eyes, to save the 
ground-cloth proper from muddy feet; and two 
straps sewed at the head of each bed under which 




Window detail: 
A — Cord and bridle for raising flap. B — Cords for guys and closing. 
C — ■ Eyelet-holes through tent wall. D — Triangular pockets at back and 
corners to insert: E — Twigs to reinforce flap. 

to slip the pillows so they will stay put, said pillows 
consisting of flour-bags stuffed with reserve under- 
wear, etc., or with balsam or other evergreen tips 
or even ordinary leaves, moss, or grass. Mention 
also should be made here of the little pockets at the 
back and at the front corners of the window-flaps, 
for the insertion of twigs to hold these shutters out 




Side view of author's tent 




Baker tent 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 263 

flat when raised. The adjusting-cords lead through 
buttonholed eyelets to the inside of the tent and are 
secured as desired by making a slip-noose in them, the 
knot of which lies against the Inside wall close against 
the eyelet holes. We believe, gentlemen, we have 
only to mention that along the line of direct strain 
at the sides of the triangle forming the front wall, 
and from the top of the rear wall along each side 
to the ground front-corners of this paragon of a 
tent, the muslin is reinforced by three-quarter inch 
tape sewed on the inside. 

This tent is erected, except for the finer details, 
simply by staking out the four ground corners, and 
then carrying the front guys from the peak over the 
shears — thus It very quickly Is made a " safe port 
In a storm." The procedure was to chuck all our 
other dunnage Immediately Into this and next to 
erect the big fly (see ahead) ; we then could arrange 
the further camp details under cover, at leisure. 
Our regular outfit comprises In addition two other, 
seven by seven wall tents and the duffle-bags. 

An important point In the construction of any real 
tent Is that It should have eaves, projecting at least 
two or three inches, where the roof meets the side- 
wall at a sharp angle, and especially when a seam Is 
there; another thing Is that it often is a good stunt 
to economize in weight by having the sides of very 
light material but to have the roof of heavier stufl[. 

A simpler application of the stretcher-bed prin- 



264 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

ciple makes at once the easiest to erect, lightest, and 
most comfortable form of temporary night-shelter 
known to the writer. All you need is a single 
stretcher-bed canvas (they are stocked in the out- 
fitting shops), a poncho or similar square of water- 
proof material, and a blanket; or a second poncho 
with two edges grommeted to lace together may be 
used over the stretcher-bed poles. You cut two 
saplings for these stretcher poles; and four more, 
smaller poles with which to make two pairs of shears, 
about four feet high and with a three-foot base. 




Stretcher-bed temporary shelter 



The shears are driven into the ground about four and 
one-half feet apart. The stretcher-poles lie outside 
the shears, elevated enough to clear the ground 
nicely. As the weight of the stretcher occupant then 
tends to spread his bed, it automatically is kept taut. 
A rope serves as ridge and at the same time stays the 
whole thing at the ends, where it is securely staked 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 265 

— have all main tent-stakes strong and long enough 
to hold when that big wind arrives in the dead of 
some night. The poncho or whatnot is thrown over 
the ridge-rope — and that 's all there is to it. 

Remember then, when you are preparing your 
woodland couch, to get clear of the ground. Next 
to some such affair, the best thing to do is to scoop 
out a full-length hole, at least six o'r eight inches 
deep, fill this with browse level with the ground, and 
then to top this with your damp-excluding poncho 
within which is folded your blanket. 

If the personnel of your party is large enough 
for two or more tents, a nice thing is to have a large 
waterproof fly that you can use for the ridged roof 
of a court around three sides of which the tents are 
grouped, each facing the center. Such an arrange- 
ment makes a very comfortable " fix." In pro- 
tracted rainy weather you can build your small cook- 
ing-fire under this large fly and sit around it and 
eat in comfort; also you have the means of drying 
out clothing, etc. Upon our trip mentioned above 
we had a sixteen-foot-square fly for this purpose, 
which, stretched over and between our tents, proved a 
life saver; this also was treated with the alum and 
lead, but it is of six-ounce drill. We had pitched 
camp in the rain, most of the time continued to camp 
in the rain, and all but broke camp in the rain. You 
may keep dry during a prolonged rainy season and 
yet find the confinement of close tent-life very irk- 



266 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

some; a device of the kind we have described adds 
much to your freedom of movement under these 
circumstances. In the picture of the " Anglers' 
Camp " you will see how three tents may be set up 
around such a big central fly. It had best extend a 
little beyond the front of each tent, being about two 
feet higher than the tents at their highest point; 
the open side of the court faces the stream. Here 
is a rough diagram of the plan. The uprights 
which support the ridge-pole for this big fly may also 
be utilized in the erection of two of the tents. 



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Plan of tents grouped to face central court roofed by large fly 

Another thing that will add measurably to your 
comfort in a wet camp is some pieces of canvas with 
which you may improvise stools and chairs to sit 
upon under cover of your fly. A triangular piece 
of duck, twelve to fifteen inches long on the sides. 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 267 

rope-bound and looped at the corners — or hemmed 
at the edges and reinforced at the corners, where 
grommets are Inserted — with the blunt-pointed 
ends of three crossed sticks thrust into these corners, 
the sticks being bound together at the middle, makes 
a stool not to be sneezed at. 

Before we proceed any further with this discus- 
sion we must have special concern for our matches. 
If you have but once experienced the feeling of 
miserable desolation in the wet woods without the 
means of producing that thing most desirable of all, 
the cheer of a fire, you need not be impressed with 
the idea that those matches must be stored in an 
absolutely water-tight tin receptacle. A shaving- 
stick metal holder makes a handy one. And it is n't 
a bad stunt always to have on your person a special, 
emergency supply of matches further protected by 
previously having had their heads dipped in shellac 
or melted paraffine. 

Moreover don't overlook the value of a store of 
dry, small pine-kindlings — mere slivers of wood 
that you bring from home, included amongst your 
duffle, and guard jealously by taking them to bed 
with you, under the blanket, and reserve strictly for 
actual need. The war-introduced " trench torch " 
or candle is also a great boon when starting a fire 
under dam(p), bad circumstances. 

Some of these things we have discussed thus far 
are in truth but the A B C's of the expert woodsman. 



268 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

but soon we are about to reveal something that we 
believe to be really new — at any rate very little 
known — about camp-fires ; In short we now shall 
discourse about the " Loot's " raln-defying outside 
camp-fire, a discovery that he made on our memor- 
able wet expedition, demonstrating before our very 
eyes how necessity could be the mother of Invention. 
This phenomenon is that of keeping a fire going 
right out in the open, and with a good steady rain 
raining right along! As already affirmed, so far 
as we are aware the inspiration of genius that created 
it had Its genesis in the cerebrum of Charlie, the 
popular Lieutenant, as Intimated, of our local branch 
of the State Guard, and one of our Westchester 
County Supervisors. If he supervises the county 
affairs that directly concern Yonkers as ably as he 
can supervise a camp-fire, he should be elected to 
succeed himself perennially. 

After a fire Is once well started under cover it is 
a simple enough matter to dry out alongside of it 
firewood for use as needed — and if you are not an 
experienced camper you will be astonished to learn 
how small a cooking-fire need be to be efficient; It 's 
that starting It that may be the rub, to say nothing 
of keeping it going satisfactorily in the open. So 
to start this Charlie affair a-going, you may have 
to hunt for some dry tinder from the Inside of a dead 
stump or log. Or the thin outer bark of the white 
or yellow birches contains a vegetable oil that will 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 269 

admit of Its being fired even when sodden with wet. 
(Birch logs are the best-burning green wood.) But 
you must proceed in the right way. Make a cy- 
lindrical roll of this bark, stand it vertically with 
the lower edge resting on two small stones or pieces 
of wood to lift it at least an inch clear of the ground, 
brace it thus with a few small pieces of kindhng 
ranged about it conewise, like the poles of a minia- 
ture tepee tent, and fire the bark at the bottom edge. 
In addition to birch-bark, you should lose no time 
in collecting a stock of small, dry, dead twigs for 
safe storage in camp after it is once pitched, for 
kindling, against a wet spell, and occasionally you 
may souse these with surplus frying-pan fat. These 
or your pine kindlings and your birch-bark will fur- 
nish sufficient nucleus for a good fire at any time. 
If you have thought to bring along a small bellows, 
so much the better. A piece of rubber tubing at- 
tached to a short metal tube having one end flat- 
tened to insinuate under the embryo fire (perhaps 
made from an old rod-ferrule), isn't a bad fire- 
blower. (The whole might easily be fashioned 
from a doctors' defunct stethoscope.) 

But how did Charlie do it? — well, we're getting 
to that. His beautiful idea is to build a roof of wet 
firewood over the fire, by placing one end of the 
sticks on the top backlog, butting against a strip of 
wood stood vertically to keep them from slipping 
off, with their forward ends resting on the cross-bar 



270 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

or crane from which the pots and " kittles " are sus- 
pended, and projecting somewhat in front of it. A 
little space is left between the sticks as they are 
laid side by side, so they will not blanket the lire 
too much. These screen the fire from the rain suf- 
ficiently so that it will keep burning, and the fire 
dries them enough so that they burn readily. When 
the fire needs replenishing you feed it with a piece 
of the roof dropped dry side down, and replace this 
with another, wet piece of firewood; how 's that for 
perpetual reciprocity! 

But after all, what less should we have expected 
as a result of Charlie's exuberant personal and pro- 
fessional qualifications ! I have mentioned some- 
thing about his social and political activities — but 
not a word as to his business-card, which in our home 
paper reads as follows: 

Secure our estimate on your heating 
plant (new or repairs). Our work 
and materials give the best service. 
Our figures are close. 

w & c 

Steam and Water Heating 

The unanimous vote of the bunch at " Big-Birch " 
camp was that his services were eminently satisfac- 
tory, and that the result of his " figuring " was be- 
yond cavil as economical of time and energy as the 
above literary specimen is devoid of verbiage. 

In the accompanying illustration of this arrange- 
ment there is no camouflage about the trout frying 




t—t 

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O 

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Q 

H 
D 
O 

O 
Z 

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(Li 

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THE ANGLER'S CAMP 271 

in the pan, although the " panhandler " in this in- 
stance is not the fire and county supervisor, but 
" Denny the Axman," who more recently has mani- 
fested an ambition to " usurp " the cook's preroga- 
tives. 

Every orthodox camp outfit must include a " ditty- 
bag " — a compact collection of things of general 
utility. Here are some of the items that should 
not be overlooked. We already have mentioned 
nails, in connection with the tent stretcher-bed. 
They are most useful in camp; have on assortment 
of varied sizes, and including hobnails. A ball of 
marlin is handy for lashing tent-poles, etc. Pliers 
and a coil of wire often are not to be despised. Of 
course you want sewing materials, including thimble 
or a sailmakers' palm, beeswax, and patches and but- 
tons, for clothing and tent repairs. Tackle- and 
wader-repairing outfits must find a place. A leather- 
stitching hand awl may not come amiss. Then there 
is that file and carborundum-stone for sharpening the 
ax and other edged tools. And don't forget safety- 
pins — fine for pinning shirt-pockets so things won't 
drop out; and big fellows, horse-blanket size, are just 
as good for blankets for humans — to pin fast the 
doubled-up bottom, when you arrange it in sleeping- 
bag style, and for holding the top in place. 

The ax itself won't go into the ditty-bag — for, 
in addition to the camp hatchet or small ax, you want 
a real ax for real execution; it should be at least 



272 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

a " three-quarter " size. But it will pack all right 
into the center of a duffle-bag, the blade having a 
guard affixed. That icemen's ax, with its pick at 
one end of the head, isn't a bad camp-tool, with the 
handle shortened. And it is a good idea to wire 
your ax- and hatchet-heads to their helves, by insert- 
ing a piece of stout wire through a hole bored 
through the handle close to the back of the head 
and then bringing the ends of the wire in front of 
the head and twisting them together. 

The novice will be interested to see what an actual 
" grub-list," ample for five men for two weeks, will 
look like. We lived royally on this with the addi- 
tion to the menu of trout, wild-strawberry short- 
cake, and some potatoes and a fowl or two obtained 
from a farmer — in a manner perfectly legitimate. 
And note that we were not unmindful of the value 
of macaroni as a portable potato-substitute. The 
total expense of this trip, exclusive of railroad fares 
but inclusive of twelve dollars paid for the trans- 
portation of the whole outfit, men and dunnage, into 
and out of the woods — about twenty-five miles — 
at the prices then current, amounted to seventy- 
nine cents per day for each member of the party. 
Alas! those days so recent yet of yore have gone, 
never to return. Here then follows the larder : 

7 pounds flour 4 pounds rice 

4 pounds prepared pancake- 10 pounds bacon 
flour 2 pounds salt pork 







O 






H 

w 
O 

w 

:^ 
o 

o 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 273 



2 pounds cornmeal 


X can Crisco 


4 pounds beans 


12% pounds sugar , 


2 pounds lima beans 


I pound salt 


2 pounds split peas 


I box pepper 


8 packages spaghetti 


4 nutmegs 


I pot mustard 


8 cans soup 


5 pounds cheese . 


4 pounds dried prunes 


3 pounds hardtack 


2 pounds dried apricots 


6 pounds onions 


5 pounds raisins 


I package Pettijohn 


24 Steero beef-cubes 


3 packages H. 0. 


12 cakes German's sweet choco- 


5 pounds butter 


late 


% pound baking powder 


2 pounds English walnuts 


7 pounds coflFee 


3 jars mixed pickles 


1 pound tea 


8 jars jams and jellies 


4 cans cocoa 


2 jars honey 


14 cans unsweetened evaporated 


I bottle salad dressing 


milk 





{Note. — Powdered milk, as the " Klim " brand, may be substi- 
tuted for condensed milk in liquid form. Dehydrated vegetables, 
such as potatoes and onions, and dehydrated berries are worth keep- 
ing in mind. Sugar, flour, coffee, and tea are best first enclosed 
individually in paraffined muslin bags, and salt in a wooden box to 
keep it dry. In packing jars of jelly, etc., wrap in newspapers and 
then put in empty tobacco-cans, securing the covers with strips of 
adhesive plaster on which mark the contents. Generally you may 
check on the railroad as baggage 150 pounds of properly packed 
dunnage to each man.) 

For a nutritious emergency ration in compact 
form, to carry in the pocket when away from camp 
for the day, have some rolled-wheat cereal (as Petti- 
john's), dry raisins, walnut meats, German's sweet 
chocolate (Walter Baker and Co.), and a little tea. 
You can pit some prunes and insert the walnut meats 
— which make prunes acceptable to anyone. Then 
there is that concentrated form of pulverized cof- 
fee (G. Washington brand) . Carry these in a little 



274 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

paraffined-muslin bag. Also take along on these lit- 
tle side-trips some bits of trench torch; one piece 
supplies sufficient fire to heat water or make coffee. 
These torches are made by rolling newspapers into 
a tight cylinder of about an inch in diameter, past- 
ing the outside sheet to hold all, sawing into two- or 
three-inch lengths, and then boiling them for five 
minutes in paraffine. Or you can make them of 
burlap or any coarse cloth soaked in most any grease. 

It is quite desirable that your provisions be pro- 
tected from the depredations of ants and other woods 
pests, prominent among which is the porcupine. Ef- 
fectual against crawling vermin will be the simple 
expedient of making a skeleton table of small boughs, 
having legs about a foot long to raise it above the 
ground. Have each leg resting In a tin can, fill the 
cans with water, and store your provisions on this 
table in the commissary tent. A securer plan is to 
store them upon a covered shelf suspended In mid- 
air by wire attached to a horizontal limb of a tree. 

Have everything neat as a pin about your camp, 
burying all refuse that won't burn. You Inevitably 
will leave behind unmistakable signs of having 
camped In the spot, but don't expose yourselves to 
the diagnosis of having " picnicked " there. Every 
true lover of the woods Is scrupulously careful about 
the disposition of lighted matches, and about quench- 
ing all fires after they have served his purpose; the 
Game Commission and the Forest Service have not 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 



275 



harped upon this precaution one bit too much. 

In addition to the grub, also the following items, 

some not already noted, were on my checking-list: 

Cheap canvas gloves, used in File 



handling the reflector-baker 
Canteen 

Collapsible canvas-bucket 
Cook-kit 

Pipes and tobacco 
Mosquito-dope 
Three-in-One oil 
i8 candles 

Flour-bag pillow-slips 
Mirror 
Postal cards 
Indelible pencil 
Whisk-broom 
Map 
Compass 
Pedometer 



Carborundum-stone 

Camera and films 

Flashlight and extra batteries 

Hot-water bag 

Bellows 

Pine kindlings 

Canvas stool-seats 

Medicine-kit 

4 boxes matches 

2 cakes Babbitt's soap 

2 cakes Ivory soap 

I cake Sapolio 

1 can Greosolvent hand-paste 

I box toothpicks 
Bird, tree, and flower books 
Calendar 



Note this last Item; it is surprising in how short 
a time in the woods you can lose all track of the 
days. 

Fresh-water fish that you intend to ship or trans- 
port home are best cleaned soon after killing; this 
should include removal of the gills but not of the 
large blood-sinus along the backbone. You may 
place inside each fish some damp watercress (not 
ferns or grass) ; wrap individually and tightly in 
paraffined or other paper to exclude the air; and 
then make of all one package wrapped in sawdust 
and more paper, and cloth — dry. Till the last 
moment before shipment or transportation, keep 



276 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

them if possible on but not against ice; otherwise 
keep in a covered pail buried in the ground or set 
in a shallow, shady part of the stream. This latter 
way we have kept trout in camp perfectly sweet and 
firm for over three days in midsummer. Fresh fish 
are also sometimes packed in salt for a journey, 
which is soaked out In water at their destination, be- 
fore cooking them; and yet another plan is to hang 
them in the smoke of the camp-fire a few hours, 
after gutting them, and then wrap after they are 
plentifully peppered inside. 

To clean trout, sever the attachment of the gills 
well forward under the lower jaw and at the sides 
in front of the pectoral fins; hook your finger into 
the gills and strip toward the tail, when everything 
comes away clean at once. The nicest way to pre- 
pare bass is, after scaling, to cut along each side of 
the dorsal fin the whole length of the back, with a 
good-sized sharp knife, and carrying the incision 
across the body behind the gill covers; then " saw " 
off a steak or fillet close down to the bones, discard- 
ing the rest. Pickerel and perch preferably are 
skinned. 

The safest place to carry your bill-roll is In a 
chamois-leather bag securely fastened around your 
neck. 

Keep a notebook of choice bits of practical in- 
formation on camping, woodcraft, and angling ac- 
quired on your trips into the woods. 




COPYRIGHT BY WM. LYMAN UNDERWOOD 

STILL YOUNG— IN ENTHUSIASM 



THE ANGLER'S CAMP 277 

A last caution — which might well have come first 
' — is that you be wary of your drinking supply when 
camping. If you imbibe the nectar of the gods 
from a living spring at its source — " b'gosh, that 's 
the kind er water a feller kin drink when he ain't 
dry! " — you shouldn't worry. But if in the least 
suspicious of contamination, either boil the water or 
treat it with a dilute solution of chloride of lime. 
The following formula will be satisfactory: Add 
one teaspoonful of fresh chloride of lime to one pint 
of water, which will keep for several days if stored 
in a stoppered bottle. If one teaspoonful of this 
solution is added to two gallons of drinking water 
and allowed to stand for half an hour the water will 
then be safe for use. 

But my I boys, it 's getting late; and the camp-fire 
has burned low. Suppose we all crawl into our 
blankets. Good night I and a full creel for every- 
body tomorrow. 



Finally, patient " Scholer," and once again, 

Here 's to the swish of the Split-Bamboo I — 
Musical swish of your own bamboo. — 

Go to it I And may the abounding benediction of 
the Great Father of the beautiful outdoors be visited 
upon each and every one of you, in the guise of re- 
newed brightness of eye, elasticity of step, accelera- 
tion of appetite and digestion coincident with reduc- 



278 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 

tion of equatorial girth, refreshment of slumber, 
serenity of mind, and mellowness of heart, so long 
as warbling birds. Springtime flowers, the whisper- 
ing woods, and murmuring waters shall exist for our 
periodical enchantment and sanctuary — which may 
it be a long, long while, before, joining my old-time 

angling companion John P , we too will have 

passed on, out of sight downstream, to that faraway 
land where " a pure river of the Water of Life, clear 
as crystal, proceedeth from the throne of God." 



Make all good men your well-wishers, 
and then, in the years' steady sifting, 

Some of them turn into friends. Friends 
are the sunshine of life. 

— John Hay. 



BOOKS FOR THE ANGLER 

Fishing Facts of the Utmost Interest for all 
Lovers of the Out-O'-Doors 



lom 



Fishi 



m 



By DIXIE CARROLL 

Author of Fishing Tackle and Kits, Lake and Stream Oatne 

Fishing; Editor of The National 8portsma/n, 

Chicago Evening News, Etc. 

Introduction by 
Major-General Leonard Wood 

A new book for the every now-and-then fisherman as 
well as the expert angler. Full of fishing facts gathered 
from lake and stream fishing in all parts of the country. 
Weather conditions and how they affect fishing. Feed and 
food dope and how it relates to when the fish are biting. 
Handling the rod, playing the fish, the backlash and how 
to eliminate it. Busting the rules of the game. Natural 
baits and artificials, how to use them and when. Home 
life of the game fish, the kind of waters and underwater 
formations they loaf about and why. The camp commissary 
and what to take along. Sportsmanship in fishing. Every- 
thing written from personal study in a style of one fellow 
to another to help him derive more enjoyment from nature 
along stream and lake water trails. Where to go a-fishing, 
data about places where the author has fished. 

Many illustrations from photographs. Colored cover 
jacket. Large 12mo. Silk cloth; also % Qreen Turkey 
Morocco. 



STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 
Publishers - Cincinnati, V. S. A. 



BOOKS FOR THE ANGLER 

No Angler Should be Without This Book 

Streamcraft 

An Angling Manual 

By dr. GEORGE PARKER HOLDEN 

Here is a volume dedicated to Henry van Dyke, which will 
be of great interest to those of the angling fraternity. It 
deals with the selection, care, and rigging of the rod, the art 
of casting, trout habits, lures and their use, including some 
stream entomology, the angler flies and how to tie them, in- 
cluding a description of the most successful trout and bass 
flies. The style is always sprightly and lucid, even in the 
most technical parts. No other volume on American angling 
is so authoritative and comprehensive. 

Stewabt Edward White: 

I am much pleased with it, and I am certain every old 
angler will get much pleasure from it and all new anglers 
will get instruction. 

Dr. James A. Henshall: 

I read the book with great interest and satisfaction. It 
is a useful and instructive manual for the expert as well 
as for the new hand at trout-fishing. I trust it will meet 
the universal approval that its merits deserve. 

Handsomely and elaborately illustrated. Eight full-page 
colored illustrations and numerous black and whites. The 
book in size handy for the pocket. Silk cloth; also % Tur- 
key Morocco. 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 
Publishers - Cincinnati, U.S. A. 



BOOKS FOR THE ANGLER 

America's Greatest Authority 

Bass, Pike, Perch and Other 
Game Fishes of America 

By JAMES A. HENSHALL, M.D. 

Author of the Book of the Black Bass, Etc, 

The most comprehensive book on American Game-Fishes 
published. It describes in detail ninety species and varie- 
ties of the game-fishes inhabiting fresh water lakes and 
streams east of the Rocky Mountains, and the marine and 
brackish waters of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. 

In addition to a brief, technical description of the fishes 
for the purpose of identification, the popular description 
and account of their habits, habitats, and everything relat- 
ing to their environment is full and complete; the whole 
comprising a valuable compendium and text-book for the 
angler with bait or artificial fly. 

The style of descriptions of the various fishes is new, 
lucid, and entertaining. The suggestions and directions for 
angling, and of the tools and tackle recommended are in 
Dr. Henshall's best style, and can be confidently recom- 
mended and relied on as they are in strict conformity with 
his own practice and experience, which cover a period of 
more than fifty years. 

Many illustrations; frontispiece and cover jacket in full 
color. 12mo. Silk cloth; also % Turkey Morocco. 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 
Publishers - Cincinnati, U. S. A. 



BOOKS FOR THE ANGLER 



Valuable for Old Timer and Tyro Alike 

Casting Tackle and Methods 

By 0. W. SMITH 

Fishing Editor of Outdoor Life, and Author of 
Trout Lore 

The author has endeavored to embody not only the ac- 
ciunulated wisdom of forty years of angling, but also to 
draw upon the experience of well-known angling experts. 
He has sought to impart just the information which his 
correspondents have been seeking. Not only is the volume 
a book upon tackle, but, as its name implies, it deals exten- 
sively with angling methods. The last half has to do with 
actual fishing. It will prove invaluable to the old hand as 
well as the new. 

For a dozen years or more Smith has been an " Angling 
Editor," first with Outer's Book and at present with Out- 
door Life. During these years he has been lord high ad- 
viser to the angling fraternity of America. 

Elaborately illustrated. Colored cover jacket. Large 
12mo. Silk cloth; also % Green Turkey Morocco. 



STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 
Publishers = Cincinnati, U. S. A. 



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N. MANCHESTER, 
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